I went from Alabama to Many Glacier Hotel as the security guard after graduating school.
I was homesick and it was one of the best things I ever did.
The employees were great and the manager {Ian-Tippit} was exceptionable {I can’t believe that I still remember his name}.
Comment from Anonymous
When I retire in two years I plan on asking for my old job back.
Good luck with that……lots of retired folks work in the national parks.
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Working at Many Glacier Hotel, Glacier National Park
P.A. Anderson
I worked in the Many Glacier Hotel gift shop in the summer of 1973, at age 19. To this day it is the most amazing summer I’ve ever experienced.
I’d never been west of the Appalachians before applying to work at Glacier National Park, at the behest of my step-father, whose own father was a past president of the Great Northern Railroad that helped to put Glacier on the map.
I’ll never forget the Empire Builder train ride from Chicago to East Glacier, or my first view of the mountains while riding in the Red Jammer that shuttled me to Many Glacier Hotel on a cold and dusky early June evening.
This was the era when Many Glacier Hotel was known as “The Showplace of the Rockies” because so many talented people were hired to perform for the hotel guests.
Some of my fondest memories involve watching my co-workers perform in the Many Glacier Hotel lobby (we are having a reunion next July and will perform again!).
When we weren’t working or watching performances, we partied in the dorms or on “the slab,” which was (and still is) a flat concrete surface in the trees on the ridge above the upper employee dorm.
There was plenty of beer and other “stuff,” someone always had a guitar, and we’d lie back and gaze at the stars, meteors, and the occasional satellite crossing the sky overhead. We sometimes spent the night out there in our sleeping bags.
Days off were spent hiking throughout Glacier National Park, Montana. My first hike was to Cracker Lake, and others included Grinnell Glacier, Piegan Pass, Iceberg Lake, and the Ptarmigan Tunnel-Red Gap Pass loop.
My all-time favorite was the Highline Trail from Logan Pass to Granite Park, followed by Swiftcurrent Pass back to Many Glacier Hotel. The view of Bullhead and the other lakes from the top of the pass is still my favorite scene in the entire park.
We even managed to go swimming in the gorge below Swiftcurrent Lake, going so far as to jump from the rocks into an icy pool below. That was totally crazy!
There are so many wonderful memories of that summer that I can’t begin to list them all. I made hardly any money (and I doubt the pay is much better now), but if anyone out there is looking for a great summer experience, you can’t beat spending it in Glacier.
Comment from Perry
Hi P.A.,
It must have been quite the experience to watch the stars every night from Many Glacier Hotel’s roof.
Lucky you!
~ Perry
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Zion National Park Summer Jobs
Dianne
Working in Zion National Park for a summer job was wonderful and a great experience for someone from Michigan that had never been to a national park before.
Living right in Zion National Park with others (in my case women) from all over the country -Tennessee, California, New York and Colorado. Of course there were many guys also working there and we all became friends.
We had a lot of fun sharing knowledge. You always have someone to hike with, or swim in the river with, or travel with on days off.
Imagine the amazing views you wake up to everyday, work in and have access to the entire time!
In Zion National Park, there is an amazing narrow tunnel through the rock that I believe is one mile. The only light is through a few small windows carved through the rock on one side along its distance.
We all got together toward the end of our time and secretly walked the tunnel at night. It is pitch black unless you are near the windows. It was an experience I’ll never forget. It is worth filling out the long application.
At that time Zion was a smaller, lesser traveled park and I understood chances were better if you choose a National Park job this way. My experience was BS Natural Resources and worked for US Fish & Wildlife one seasonal job.
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