Sperry Chalet rebuild starts July 9; dining hall will be open
A mountain goat looks out a window of the Sperry Chalet remains last week.
Reconstruction of the Sperry Chalet will start July 9, Park spokeswoman Lauren Alley said last week.
Supplies will be hauled in via helicopter from a staging area on private land in Nyack, which is removed from the population centers of West Glacier.
Dick Anderson Construction was awarded the $4.08 million contract for Phase I of the project, which includes permanently stabilizing the structure and putting a roof with a waterproofing membrane on it in preparation for winter.
The chalet work will be finished in a separate contract next year. The chalet was gutted by the Sprague Fire in the summer of 2017.
It’s expected to take more than 100 helicopter flights to haul supplies into the chalet, but by flying a route from Nyack, most visitors to the Park won’t see them.
The dining hall will be open this summer, said Belton Chalets Inc. owner Kevin Warrington. Starting July 10, the plan is to have the hall open from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., though folks may have to wait a bit longer at noon, as the top priority is to feed the construction crew lunch, he said. The dining hall is a popular spot for hikers, as it has a woodstove and the coffee is always on. The staff cooks excellent meals, including a cherry chocolate cake that’s truly special.
The kitchen staff of three will stay in a small bedroom in the dining hall, Warrington said. They’ll stay until the crews leave in September.
The hike to the chalet is 6.5 miles from Lake McDonald Lodge, with an elevation gain of about 3,400 feet. With the Sprague Fire burning most of the trees along the route, it promises to be a warm hike during sunny summer days. Hikers are urged to get an early start.
The plan is to keep the Gunsight Pass Trail to Sperry open this summer, with the exception of days when there’s heavy mule train traffic. The Park also plans on having an area set up where people can watch the reconstruction of the chalet.
The project is expected to cost about $12 million, with the Glacier National Park Conservancy raising about $2 million toward that goal.