Check out the following short film on Youtube: Scenes from Glacier Country
Though my love for Yellowstone Country—inspired at an early
age—led me to become a ranger naturalist in YNP and later to take the leap of
founding Yellowstone Country Guardians, I have a long history in NW Montana and
Glacier Country as well. Somehow our
annual trips to Yellowstone since my infant years seemed almost unreal and
certainly like nowhere else on earth with the great abundance of wildlife—bison
in particular—and unworldly thermal features.
But growing up, the wilds of Glacier Country felt more like
home as I spent much of my early years visiting my aunt, uncle and cousins outside
of Kalispell, Montana. These monthly and
sometimes bi-weekly trips to Kalispell often led to forays into the wild
reaches of Glacier National Park. And
while Glacier may not contain the great abundance of thermal features and
easily seen wildlife, it remains the only place left in the lower 48 that can
boast of the same wildness and rugged spirit that can be found in Yellowstone
Country.
Glacier National Park and the surrounding wildlands remain
one of the greatest treasures we have left on our planet and its proximity to
Yellowstone has always led to a bit of sibling rivalry amongst their
supporters, but also a mutual respect and admiration for the wild spirit of
these pillars of North American wilderness.
The Leach Clan which has a long history in both Yellowstone
and Glacier National Park is extremely blessed as our ties to these incredible
treasures grow stronger and more direct with each passing year. While my family now calls the enigmatic
wonders of Yellowstone Country home, my little sister Ashley is engaged to be
married—a wedding I will proudly officiate this July in East Glacier—to a
strong spirited young man with deep roots in Glacier Country. Ryan Sherburne’s—my sisters fiancé—family history
includes the naming of a large backcountry lake in Glacier National Park,
Sherburne Lake.
And while the arguments over Holiday feasts will inevitably continue
regarding where the next family get-together should be held, our shared
reverence for each other’s “place” and an almost mournful yearning to visit the
others wilderness will always remain.
Please take a moment to visit the following Youtube link to
see a beautiful short film about Glacier that my sister Ashley recently
edited. Scenes from Glacier Country.
Peace Be the Journey, Michael Leach, Director
