Quinn Endicott/SWC
110 9th Street West
Columbia Falls, MT 59912
7/17/21
Today was an awesome day! The highline trail is by far the best hike that I have done in the park and the best hike that I have ever been on in my life. I left this morning at 5:30 am, taking a mother and daughter, to Logan's Pass, about 45 minutes from Swiftcurrent. I gave the mother and daughter a ride so that they could do the Highline trail as well. We got there at around 6:15 am and the entire parking lot was already full so I had to find a spot a quarter mile down the road. I left the mother and daughter at the restrooms to go find my friends for the hike and met up with them at the trailhead. We immediately took off for the 22 mile trek and were blown away at the views near the beginning of the trail. It was basically the going-to-the-sun road but without the cars. At around mile 7 we hit a turn off that would lead to an overlook of Grinnell Glacier, an extremely popular hiking spot and one of the largest remaining glaciers in the park. The next 0.8 mile was the hardest hiking I have done this summer. It was around 1,000ft of elevation change with a steep incline that seemed to be never ending. When we made it to the top we ended up finding some other people that were friends with one of the people I was hiking with. They are all employees at the Glacier Raft Company and know Bailey, one of my ministry partners. We hung out at the overlook for a good while to rest and eat before starting back down. We stopped for official lunch at the Granite Park Chalet, each night is $500, which is basically a little hotel in the middle of a hike, and relaxed in the sun soaking up the views. After lunch we continued onward to climb Swiftcurrent Mt. to one of the last manned fire-towers in the park. This elevation change was much greater than the Grinnell Glacier overlook but the path had many more switchbacks and was less steep so we enjoyed the climb a lot more. When we got to the top it was mind blowing. We had a 360 degree view of the park and could see all 6 of the 10,000ft peaks! The ranger in the tower came out and we talked to her for a bit to learn that she has been manning the tower for the last 14 years! They bring her food and water on mules every two weeks and she stays in the tower almost all summer! There were some ground squirrels and a Marmot trying to steal food and chew on our packs so we had to fight them off while we rested at the top. We eventually went back down the mountain and then back down into the many glacier valley where we arrived at Swiftcurrent 22 miles and 12 hours later.
The beginning of our hike right above the Going-to-the-Sun road.
7/18/21
Today was a wonderful restful day. After our service this morning one of my co-workers, Ryan, was baptized! Amos baptized him in the Swiftcurrent Lake after Ryan helped with the morning service. Later that afternoon, Molly and I went paddle boarding on the Swiftcurrent Lake because it was so calm out. We stopped by the Many Glacier Hotel EDR (employee dining room) for lunch and then kept on paddle boarding on the lake. Eventually we went back to Swiftcurrent and tried out the slackline that I had purchased. We then went and ran the evening service before heading to the Going-to-the-Sun road for the sunset. It was a wonderful day and quite relaxing. I am now thinkin about getting a Paddle Board.
Me standing on a rock roughly in the middle of Swiftcurrent Lake.
7/19/21
Today was another day at work but before heading to work I continued a prank that has been going on around Swiftcurrent. We have an inflatable dinosaur that is passing to different people's cabins so I placed it in the rafters of Amos's cabin to surprise when he got back from his hike. Other than that, it has been a normal day out here in Montana. There is a growing haze from fire's further West but it comes and goes with each day.
Sexy Rexy the inflatable dinosaur.
7/20/21
This morning I got up at 5:30am to drive the same mother and daughter from Swiftcurrent to the airport. They were good company and we shared in great conversation about life and travels on our way to the airport. It took about 3.5 hours to get there. I dropped off the mother and daughter and then immediately started my drive back. Whenever I got stopped for construction I would read, working on Lord of the Flies. I made it back with a few hours to spare so I took a nap and then went to work to close with the 3pm-11pm shift. It got a little crazy during dinner with around 25 people in our small lobby but we made it through the hour. I now leave at 11pm and then come back to open tomorrow at 6am.
7/21/21
Today my shift went by pretty quickly. I finished Lord of the Flies, an extremely thought provoking book, and then went slacklining after work. Today one of the employees turned 21 on the 21st in 2021. So basically it was the Golden birthday and we all wanted to do something special for him. He is a little more on the shy side so we ended up just hanging out around one of the employee cabin circles and sharing stories and laughter. It was a fun evening and I went to bed appreciative of the people that I have gotten to know this summer.
7/22/21
Today I work from 6am-2:30pm and my manager works 2:30pm-11pm because the rest of the front desk employees have their days off on Thursday. When I printed off the weather report for today there was a Red Flag Fire warning on the report. This means that the wind strength and the low humidity level are setting the stage for extremely dangerous fire risk. A fire would be able to travel miles in a matter of minutes and the low humidity would allow for it to burn exceptionally quickly once it lands. I am going to pack a GO bag and put non-essentials back into the van in case we do have to evacuate the valley. Hopefully we won't have to but I am wanting to be prepared just in case. This weekend I do have a backpacking trip planned from Canada back to Swiftcurrent. A total of around 30 miles.
P.S.
"How do I get out of here?" -A guest after having just driven into the valley on the only road that enters the valley.
Stunning pics!!
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