Death & Survival in Glacier National Park: True Tales of Tragedy, Courage, and Misadventure

by C. W. Guthrie

Overview

Sheer cliffs, avalanches, turbulent rivers, cold lakes, severe weather, grizzly bears - these are just a few of the ways you can die while visiting Glacier National Park. Since 1910 when the park was established, 296 people have perished within Glacier's boundaries, and many more somehow survived close calls with death. Death & Survival in Glacier National Park recounts their true tales, as well as stories of the brave and often heroic search-and-rescue professionals who put their lives on the line so that others might live.

• Written by a local Glacier National Park expert.
• Jam-packed with gripping stories of courage and survival against all odds.
• Featuring the most complete chronology of all 296 deaths in Glacier National Park, including names, ages, locations, and causes.

Includes maps, charts & graphs.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781560376583
Publisher:	Farcountry Press
Publication date:	05/23/2017
Pages:	314
Sales rank:	518,595
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

C. W. (Carol) Guthrie's love affair with Glacier began when she and her dad drove the Going-to-the-Sun Road when she was nine years old. For the past twenty-five years, following a career working for the Air Force, she has explored the park and its history and authored five books about the park, including Farcountry Press titles All Aboard! for Glacier: The Great Northern Railway and Glacier National Park, and Glacier National Park: The First 100 Years.

Dan and Ann Fagre have been backpacking, climbing, skiing, and exploring mountains and national parks since the early 1970s. Over these decades, they've been wilderness rangers, fire lookouts, firefighters, and outdoor trip leaders in various western landscapes. For the past twenty-six years, they've made their home in West Glacier, Montana, and Glacier National Park, where they've worked, played, and raised their daughters who are following in their footsteps.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments iv

Introduction: Life and Death in Glacier National Park 1

Part I Laws of the Land 14

Chapter 1 Nature-Wild, Wonderful, Unpredictable 17

Chapter 2 When Life Hung by a Hair 33

Chapter 3 The Land Becomes a National Park 57

Part II Death and Survival along the Going-to-the-Sun Road 60

Chapter 4 Failing from the Road 63

Chapter 5 Drowning-It Can Happen to Anyone 71

Chapter 6 Homicides and Suicides 92

Chapter 7 Driving the High Roads 100

Chapter 8 Natural Causes and other Deadly Incidents 124

Part III Call of the Backcountry-Adventurous Spirits, Perilous Decisions 141

Chapter 9 Gravity is Absolute: Falling While Hiking and Climbing 142

Chapter 10 Gravity is Absolute: Avalanches and Falling Objects 190

Chapter 11 Missing, Never Found 210

Chapter 12 Death by Exposure 216

Chapter 13 Lions and Wolves and Bears, Oh My 229

Chapter 14 Flying the Big Sky 269

Chapter 15 Lastly 280

List of Deaths in Glacier National Park 1910 to Present 290

Deaths in Glacier National Park 1910-2017 299

Bibliography 300

Index 303

About the Authors 314