OUR NATIONAL PARKS, AND HOW TO REACH THEM 



363 



has approved a transmountain road project and has ap- 

 propriated $100,000 to commence its construction. This 

 road will skirt the north shore of St. Mary Lake, cross- 

 ing the Divide through Logan Pass, descending the val- 

 ley of McDonald Creek to Lake McDonald and skirting 

 the east side of this, the largest of Glacier's lakes, joins 

 the present road at its lower end. Construction this year 

 will be centered on the Lake McDonald section. It will 

 require about five years to complete the highway. 



We will assume that we have crossed through Glacier 

 by horseback and have arrived at Belton, the west en- 

 trance. Here at 10 o'clock at night we may take a sleeper 

 on the Great Northern's Oriental Limited, and the fol- 

 lowing evening at 8 o'clock we will arrive at Seattle, 

 Washington. Of course, we must spend some time sight- 

 seeing in Seattle, but our next Park objective is the Mount 

 Rainier National Park, which we may reach by motor 

 from Seattle or Tacoma during the season from June 15 

 to September 15. 



"Easily King of all is Mount Rainier," wrote F. E. 

 Matthes, of the United States Geological Survey, review- 

 ing that series of huge extinct volcanoes towering high 

 above the sky line of the Cascade Range. "Almost 250 

 feet higher than Mount Shasta, its nearest rival in gran- 



deur and in mass, it is overwhelmingly impressive both 

 by the vastness of its glacial mantle and by the striking 

 sculpture of its cliffs. The total area of its glaciers 

 amounts to no less than 48 square miles, an expanse of 

 ice far exceeding that of any other single peak in the 

 United States. Many of its individual ice streams are 

 between four and six miles long, and vie in magnitude 

 and in splendor with the most boasted glaciers of the Alps. 

 Cascading from the summit in all directions, they radiate 

 like the arms of a great starfish." 



The southwest corner of the Park, at which is the main 

 entrance, is distant by automobile road 56 miles from 

 Tacoma and 90 miles from Seattle. The Park road is 

 20 miles in length and ends in Paradise Valley, where 

 the Paradise Inn is located. From Paradise Inn, or 

 Camp, for there is a very comfortable tent camp located 

 here, the principal trail trips and climbs are available. Of 

 course, the summit climb is the "big stunt" of the Park. 

 Mount Rainier has an altitude of 14,408 feet, and is the 

 third highest peak in the United States. Experienced 

 Swiss guides are employed to take the climbing parties 

 over the glaciers, and while the summit climb is strenuous, 

 both men and women make the trip. One of the most 

 enjoyable sports in Rainier is snow sliding. Guides will 



Photograph by R. E. Marble 



MANY GLACIER HOTEL, GLACIER NATIONAL PARK 



The tourist need have no fear that his comfort will not be properly provided for when he has such hotels as this to lodge and. 



feed him as he travels through the Parks. 



