What happened to Dave’s Summer of Glacier 2023? Is he the idiot, or the savant?

Well, to be quite blunt, it’s happening. Just without you!

I had a lot of build-up to this summer: all those early-season hikes and pre-season stories. And then, when I actually got here, I appeared to have gone into stealth mode. Not a post for six weeks. It’s a different kind of summer. Time goes in the blink of an eye. I’m only here for 75 days this season.

In 2021, it was all about hiking. I was pushing that 450-mile mark and getting very little REM sleep. 2022 was about learning the ins and outs of being a full-fledged Jammer (along with all the drama that comes with it). But I still got my share of hiking in.

This summer has been a mixture. I’m keeping my hikes to more quality than quantity; I even revisited some I haven’t done in thirty years. As far as tours go, I’m running a LOT more statistics this year to see if I can tease out some of those hidden nuances of the job that all the old-timers seem to know but will never share.

And as far as the people go, yeah. There is no actual formula as to what makes up a seasonal worker. All I can say is this has been yet another journey of discovery.

I always liked to keep my hiking posts timely. To make my readers feel like they were tagging along with me in real-time. But alas, you sometimes get what you get. A friend told me to enjoy the summer and write up my backlog in the winter. That’s not my style, but it allowed me to become a little lazy. Which is a shame since it is only when I write that I remember how much I love it and how good it makes me feel.

This summer, I focused on mountain peaks. A few of them are old, and some of them are new. Each one has a story. I also focused on building out my tour dialog and changed many of my narratives to include a lot of new material I’ve read since last year. I don’t know how some people give the same stale canned commentary year after year, but I like to change things up.

So here is a little snippet of things yet to come—lots of stories and adventures to share. If you have subscribed, you’ll get notifications when these go out. Thank you in advance for making it through the dry spell.

There were nine miles of road construction along Lake McDonald this summer. It really beat up our vintage tour buses. But hey, they are owned by the NPS anyway, right?

Of course, that meant a LOT more washing every time you do a trip over and back.

I got to spend some quality time in the hammock I hung off the front porch of the cabin I’m being housed in and share it with Capt. Kirk/Raven Man from last summer.

I found out the Blackfeet name for Singleshot Mtn was Big Head Mtn. Go figure.

I did several tours in the early season out of the Many Glacier area. I would learn not to complain so much about the extra miles, and it would prove that those were the only people who remembered to tip their driver this season.

I found out just how big Appekunny Mtn was. Really, really, big.

This summer, we had a most wanted character hanging around the Beargrass RV complex. Lots of people live in their vehicles here.

We had our share of hot days, that’s for sure.

The Angel Wing was well worth the wait this summer.

And why I love Mt Gould. Blue sky, white snow, and red blood always surprise me.

I could pay tribute to J Gordon Edwards on the summit where he passed from this world to the next nineteen years ago.

It has been at least three decades since I’ve seen the views from Iceberg Notch.

I never found out what a banana, a condom, and two teabags were doing on my pillow. But at least I enjoyed one of the three.

Once you can spot stromatolites, you will see them everywhere.

Finally, I get to try at Matahpi again—this time from a much better route on a much better day.

Heavy Runner Mountain is not that big or bold but beautiful in its own way. It is such an enjoyable climb; it will always be on my list to revisit.

Dawn on Mt. Allen was remarkable. Only to be outdone by the amount of skin from the shins I left as a tribute on the descent.

We did have some smoke in the Park this year. It’s better than in the past, but it did dampen the enthusiasm for some of my tours.

For the most part, I took care of #94 (Merritt). And for the most part, he took care of me. Lots of squeaks. Lots of leaks in the top. But the seat fits my ass, and after driving a 7,500-mile summer, we are still friends.

So, I hope that holds you while I finish up the season and rotate through my backlog. Lots to talk about this year. New insights. Old gripes. But at the end of the day, all is good. And sometimes even more than good.