Glacier National Park

KALISPELL, Mont. -- Joseph Abbrescia, a Western painter whose work hangs in the lobbies of two hotels at Glacier National Park, died Thursday. He was 68. Known for his Glacier National Park scenes, Mr. Abbrescia was a park artist-in-residence during the summer of 1998. Concessionaire Glacier Park Inc. commissioned two paintings in the late 1990s, and placed them in the Many Glacier Hotel and Lake McDonald Lodge. Mr. Abbrescia also exhibited his work in Montana's annual C. M. Russell Auction of Original Western Art, where his oil of a mountain scene, titled "Almost There," sold for $40,000...

The way the sun gilded the emerald waters seemed like a beckoning from the great beyond — that increasingly remote space outside our expanding electronic bubbles. It was the peak of summer, amid another draining heat wave, when I happened on a website featuring an idyllic image of snow-capped mountains and bright flowers ringing what looked like a secluded lake in a kind of alpine utopia. I had no idea where it was, but I knew I had to go there. That night, after a few minutes of research, I learned the placid lake was in the Canadian Rockies.

WHO: Ken Paulsen, 45, and David Valentine, 42, of Malden. WHERE: Canada. WHEN: 10 days in September. WHY: "We'd both always wanted to go to the Canadian Rockies," Paulsen said. "I love history. I've got a PhD in Canadian history, but my specialty is in Nova Scotia. " MANY MILES: Although the couple doesn't do a lot of hiking at home, they did plenty in Canada. "When I figured it all out, it was about 55 miles of hiking. I was surprised we didn't feel more tired.

BILLINGS, Mont. — Glacier National Park has lost two more of its namesake moving ice fields to climate change, which is shrinking the rivers of ice until they grind to a halt, a government researcher said yesterday. Warmer temperatures have reduced the number of named glaciers in the northwestern Montana park to 25, said Dan Fagre, an ecologist with the US Geological Survey. He warned the rest of the glaciers may be gone by the end of the decade. “When we’re measuring glacier margins, by the time we go home the glacier is already smaller than what we’ve measured,’’ Fagre...

GLACIER NATIONAL PARK, Mont. -- The ice-covered mountaintops are shrouded by fog. A stream gushes against the rocks on a headlong rush to the lake. High above the deserted visitors' parking lot, an elk stared at a lone hiker. Glacier National Park is a sanctuary from the outside world -- but for how long? To the west, subdivisions, vacation homes, and large chain stores move closer to its borders. To the north, bulldozers pause for the winter before pushing deeper through the forests to a planned coal mine in the Canadian Flathead River Valley.

WEST GLACIER, Mont. - I'm not a particularly religious person. But for some reason on my two recent visits to this storied place, talk of God kept popping up. It was in mid-April that I was pedaling my dated mountain bike on the Going-to-the-Sun Road with my friend Erick Robbins. I told him I was surprised we hadn't seen more riders on such a beautiful Sunday morning. The section of this stunning road through the heart of Glacier National Park was closed to automobiles for spring repairs, and we were enjoying the solitude on the only American roadway designated both a...

The way the sun gilded the emerald waters seemed like a beckoning from the great beyond — that increasingly remote space outside our expanding electronic bubbles. It was the peak of summer, amid another draining heat wave, when I happened on a website featuring an idyllic image of snow-capped mountains and bright flowers ringing what looked like a secluded lake in a kind of alpine utopia. I had no idea where it was, but I knew I had to go there. That night, after a few minutes of research, I learned the placid lake was in the Canadian Rockies.

BILLINGS, Mont. — Glacier National Park has lost two more of its namesake moving ice fields to climate change, which is shrinking the rivers of ice until they grind to a halt, a government researcher said yesterday. Warmer temperatures have reduced the number of named glaciers in the northwestern Montana park to 25, said Dan Fagre, an ecologist with the US Geological Survey. He warned the rest of the glaciers may be gone by the end of the decade. “When we’re measuring glacier margins, by the time we go home the glacier is already smaller than what we’ve...

GENTRY, Ark. — They fancy themselves a modern-day Bonnie and Clyde who pulled off a brazen prison escape in Arizona and allegedly went on a bloody, multistate crime spree. They dyed their hair and stuck to out-of-the-way places to avoid drawing attention. John McCluskey and Casslyn Welch have become two of the most-wanted fugitives in America over the past two weeks as they traversed far-off towns across the West and eluded capture at every turn. Yesterday, the manhunt shifted from the wild, open lands of northern Montana near the Canadian border to a tiny town in the...

A Google search for lodging at Glacier National Park in Montana yields a lot of hits, including some that appear to be affiliated with the National Park Service. Nationalparkreservations.com, for example, pops up under Google's sponsored listings. The website offers accommodations at national parks ranging from Acadia to Zion, with everything in between. The same goes for nationalparkservices.org, which features pictures of official-looking national park signs on its website. However, neither of these companies, nor any of the dozens...

WEST GLACIER, Mont. - I'm not a particularly religious person. But for some reason on my two recent visits to this storied place, talk of God kept popping up. It was in mid-April that I was pedaling my dated mountain bike on the Going-to-the-Sun Road with my friend Erick Robbins. I told him I was surprised we hadn't seen more riders on such a beautiful Sunday morning. The section of this stunning road through the heart of Glacier National Park was closed to automobiles for spring repairs, and we were enjoying the solitude on the only American roadway designated both a National Historic Landmark...

WHO: Ken Paulsen, 45, and David Valentine, 42, of Malden. WHERE: Canada. WHEN: 10 days in September. WHY: "We'd both always wanted to go to the Canadian Rockies," Paulsen said. "I love history. I've got a PhD in Canadian history, but my specialty is in Nova Scotia. " MANY MILES: Although the couple doesn't do a lot of hiking at home, they did plenty in Canada. "When I figured it all out, it was about 55 miles of hiking. I was surprised we didn't feel more tired.

GLACIER NATIONAL PARK, Mont. -- The ice-covered mountaintops are shrouded by fog. A stream gushes against the rocks on a headlong rush to the lake. High above the deserted visitors' parking lot, an elk stared at a lone hiker. Glacier National Park is a sanctuary from the outside world -- but for how long? To the west, subdivisions, vacation homes, and large chain stores move closer to its borders. To the north, bulldozers pause for the winter before pushing deeper through the forests to a planned coal mine in the Canadian...

KALISPELL, Mont. -- Joseph Abbrescia, a Western painter whose work hangs in the lobbies of two hotels at Glacier National Park, died Thursday. He was 68. Known for his Glacier National Park scenes, Mr. Abbrescia was a park artist-in-residence during the summer of 1998. Concessionaire Glacier Park Inc. commissioned two paintings in the late 1990s, and placed them in the Many Glacier Hotel and Lake McDonald Lodge. Mr. Abbrescia also exhibited his work in Montana's annual C. M. Russell Auction of Original Western Art, where his oil of a mountain scene, titled "Almost...

EVENTS Marshfield: Mass Audubon's Desserts and Destinations programs focus on landscapes, habitats, birds, butterflies, mammals, local culture, and - perhaps most importantly - on good eating. John Galluzzo and Greg Lessard will regale participants with tales and photographs from last year's nature photography trip to Glacier National Park in Montana, from bucking bulls to buffaloes to black bears and more, concluding with their dessert of choice - huckleberry pie. Saturday, 1-2:30 p.m. North River Wildlife Sanctuary, 2000 Main St. $13. 781-837-9400, www.massaudubon.org.

BROWNING, Mont. - A pair of rare winter wildfires fueled by 60-mile-per-hour gusts burned buildings and forced hundreds from their homes on Montana's Blackfeet Indian Reservation, but better weather conditions yesterday helped firefighters get a handle on the blazes. The two blazes started around sundown Wednesday and together grew to 16,000 acres by early yesterday, said tribal spokesman Wayne Smith. At least 300 people were evacuated from homes and a boarding school; no injuries had been reported.