Hot Off The Press!

Brand new, and hot off the press! I'm super excited to announce the release of my new book: Ultimate Hiking Guide to the Rocky Mountains: Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico

This new trail guide is now available on Amazon!

The "second" Rocky Mountain Club

The “Rocky Mountain Club” was formed in 1875, one year before the iconic Appalachian Mountain Club was established in Boston. Little is known about the original RMC, other than its famous members, which included Frederick Hayden, Albert Bierstadt and Cyrus West Field. One of the charter members of the Appalachian Mountain Club, Charles Fay, speculated that the club didn’t last long because that area of the country was still unsettled, thus, the pioneers who lived there simply didn’t have time for recreational activities.

A second “Rocky Mountain Club” was established in 1896. This organization was founded by William L. Hallett, one of the early mountaineers in the Rocky Mountains. Although it started out as a hiking club, it morphed into a climbing group, and as a result, was renamed the Rocky Mountain Climbers Club several years later. It’s most notable achievement was the first ascent of Grand Teton in Wyoming in 1898. Hallett was expected to lead this ascent, but a work-related issue prevented his participation.

Born in Massachusetts in 1859, William Hallett became a prominent cattle rancher and mining engineer. Shortly after moving to Colorado in 1878 he became one of the first pioneers to reside in the Estes Valley. In 1881 he built a house on Mary's Lake Road, which still stands today, and is now used as a dentist office. Hallett also climbed several peaks in the region, including the first documented ascent of Stones Peak. Another favorite ascent, 12,713-foot Hallett Peak in Rocky Mountain National Park, now bears his name.

In Ramble On I discuss the emergence of hiking clubs and the crucial role they played in helping to make hiking a popular pastime across much of the globe.



Jeff
RockyMountainHikingTrails.com
HikinginGlacier.com
TetonHikingTrails.com

Ramble On (2nd edition book on the rich history of hiking)
Exploring Glacier National Park
Exploring Grand Teton National Park

Agencies announce decision to restore grizzly bears to North Cascades

The National Park Service and U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service have announced a decision to actively restore grizzly bears to the North Cascades of Washington, where the animals once roamed.

Grizzly bears occupied the North Cascades region for thousands of years as a key part of the ecosystem, distributing native plant seeds and keeping other wildlife populations in balance. Populations declined primarily due to direct killing by humans. The last confirmed sighting of a grizzly bear in the U.S. portion of the North Cascades ecosystem was in 1996.

In the Record of Decision released today, agencies have decided to restore grizzly bears to the North Cascades ecosystem through the translocation of grizzly bears from other ecosystems in the Rocky Mountains or interior British Columbia. The decision is the culmination of an Environmental Impact Statement process that began in 2022.

Agencies will seek to move three to seven grizzly bears per year for a period of five to 10 years to establish an initial population of 25 bears. The U.S. portion of the North Cascades ecosystem is roughly 9,800 square miles in size, larger than the state of New Jersey, and contains some of the most intact wildlands in the contiguous U.S. Roughly 85% of the mountainous region is under federal management.

"We are going to once again see grizzly bears on the landscape, restoring an important thread in the fabric of the North Cascades." said Don Striker, Superintendent of North Cascades National Park Service Complex.

Under the decision, grizzly bears in the North Cascades will be designated as a nonessential experimental population under section 10(j) of the Endangered Species Act. The designation will provide authorities and land managers with additional tools for management that would not otherwise be available under existing Endangered Species Act regulations. The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service will publish a final 10(j) rule in the Federal Register in coming days.

“The final 10(j) rule is based on extensive community engagement and conversations about how the return of a grizzly bear population in the North Cascades will be actively managed to address concerns about human safety, property and livestock, and grizzly bear recovery.” said Brad Thompson, State Supervisor for the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. “It provides an expanded set of management tools in recognition that grizzly bear recovery in the North Cascades is dependent on community tolerance of grizzly bears.”

Public feedback played a key role in the decision. During the fall 2023 public comment period, more than 12,000 comments were received on both the draft Environmental Impact Statement and a proposed 10(j) rule.

There is no set timeline for when translocation of grizzly bears to the ecosystem may begin. The National Park Service will publish updates on the park website and notify partners and the public of implementation plans as they develop.



Jeff
RockyMountainHikingTrails.com
HikinginGlacier.com
TetonHikingTrails.com

Ramble On (2nd edition book on the rich history of hiking)
Exploring Glacier National Park
Exploring Grand Teton National Park

Glenwood Canyon Trail work begins this month, including Hanging Lake

Beginning in May, access will be limited to Hanging Lake and other Glenwood Canyon trails while trail reconstruction work, bridge replacements, and other improvements are completed. The work will repair damage from the catastrophic debris flows of 2021 and make the trails better able to handle future high water and debris.

A combination of trail improvements and ecological restoration will begin May 1 to make the 1.2-mile Hanging Lake Trail more sustainable, safe and resilient. Highlights of the project include replacing the trail’s seven bridges to better accommodate high water and constructing a boardwalk at Spouting Rock to reduce erosion and other impacts.

During construction, the Hanging Lake Trail will be closed Monday through Friday, as well as some weekends once bridge replacement begins later in the summer. Construction is expected to continue throughout the summer and into the fall. Reservations will be available weekly from www.visitglenwood.com, with available hiking dates and times released every Tuesday beginning at 8 a.m. on April 30.

The Hanging Lake reconstruction project is being funded through Great Outdoors Colorado, Colorado Parks and Wildlife State Trails Program, the National Forest Foundation, City of Glenwood Springs, H2O Ventures, and the USDA Forest Service.

Reconstruction work on Grizzly Creek and Jessie Weaver (No Name) trails in Glenwood Canyon is also expected to begin in May. Once construction begins, the existing trail closure two miles up the Grizzly Creek trail will be extended down to the picnic tables, which are about 0.3 miles from the trailhead. The existing closure of the Jessie Weaver Trail will be slightly extended to the first bridge, about 3 miles from its trailhead. Construction updates for these trails will be posted at www.fs.usda.gov/whiteriver.

Bridge replacements on both Grizzly Creek and Jessie Weaver along with trail reconstruction will allow hikers to hike from one trailhead to the other, even during high water.

The Grizzly Creek and Jessie Weaver Trail Reconstruction Project is being funded by City of Glenwood Springs, National Forest Foundation, and the USDA Forest Service, including Great American Outdoors Act funding.



Jeff
RockyMountainHikingTrails.com
HikinginGlacier.com
TetonHikingTrails.com

Ramble On (2nd edition book on the rich history of hiking)
Exploring Glacier National Park
Exploring Grand Teton National Park

Dr. Lyman B. Sperry: Early Trail Builder

In the heart of Glacier National Park is the 216-acre Sperry Glacier. It's named after Dr. Lyman B. Sperry of Oberlin College, who scouted for "scenic attractions" on behalf of the Great Northern Railway in an effort to expand tourism opportunities in the region. In June of 1895, while exploring the basin above Lake McDonald, Sperry saw and heard multiple avalanches roaring down the mountains that surround what is now known as Avalanche Lake, and agreed with those in his party, "that Avalanche Basin would be a most appropriate name for the place."

On a return trip later that same summer Sperry would discover the glacier that now bears his name. Here's a photo of the Sperry Party on Sperry Glacier:

Several years later the college professor would oversee construction of a trail that led from the head of Lake McDonald to Sperry Glacier. Dr. Sperry's trail, constructed in 1902 and 1903 with the help of 15 students from the University of Minnesota, was likely the first organized trail-building effort in the park. Sperry's motivation for building the trail came from the thought that by providing access to the most beautiful parts of Glacier's backcountry, more people would have the opportunity to see the wonders of the area, and thus increase the probability of preserving it as a national park.

Now known as the Gunsight Pass Trail, Dr. Sperry's original trail still leads to the glacier that bears his name, as well as the historic Sperry Chalet. At an elevation of more than 6550 feet, Sperry Chalet sits high atop a rock ledge that offers visitors commanding views of majestic mountain peaks, waterfalls and the Lake McDonald valley. Now listed as an Historic Landmark, the Sperry Chalet dining chalet was built by the Great Northern Railway in 1913, while the original dormitory was completed during the following year. For those visiting Sperry on a day hike you may want to note that the dining room is open to the public from 11:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. each day.

In my history of hiking, Ramble On, I discuss trail development in Glacier in far more detail, including the crucial role the Great Northern Railway played during the early years of the park.

Here's a hiking party on Sperry Glacier in the 1920s:

Here's a photo from the Milwaukee Public Museum titled, "Crevass in Sperry Glacier into which a lady fell 45 feet but was not serious hurt":

Jeff
RockyMountainHikingTrails.com
HikinginGlacier.com
TetonHikingTrails.com

Ramble On (2nd edition book on the rich history of hiking)
Exploring Glacier National Park
Exploring Grand Teton National Park