Glacier chalets opening to guests

Folks who want to stay in Glacier National Park’s Granite Park chalet may still have an opportunity to do so this summer. A check of the chalet’s website still showed a few dates open.

With Going-to-the-Sun Road closed, Granite Park still opened to guests last week. The chalet staff is using a shuttle to get guests to the trailhead, where they then have to hike up the Loop to the chalet, which is perched just below the Continental Divide.

Sperry Chalet is scheduled to open July 18. Construction crews were expected to wrap up a few punch list items last week.

Granite Park still has quite a bit of snow at the chalet, but Sperry has less — pack trains have already been able to make it to the chalet.

Sperry is reopening after two years of reconstruction. The historic chalet was gutted by the Sprague Fire on Aug. 31, 2017. All that remained was the stone shell of the 105-year-old building.

Shortly after the fire, the Glacier National Park Conservancy raised about $90,000 in emergency funding to buy materials. Park Service crews then went to work stabilize the structure so it would survive what turned out to be one of the snowiest winters in recent history.

Rebuilding the remote chalet — about 6.5 miles from the road and 3,300 feet uphill in Glacier’s high country just a few miles from the Continental Divide was no small feat. Crews hiked back and forth to the worksite and lived in wall tents for two summers.

The contract for the first phase was $4.08 million, which stabilized the structure and $4.73 million to finish the work. Subcontractor Anderson Masonry of Kalispell did the masonry work, rebuilding and cleaning stones and mortar that were damaged in the fire.

There is a caveat to this year’s opening. Because of coronavirus concerns, only registered guests will be allowed in the chalets this year. Day hikers should be prepared with cold weather and rain gear. The chalets are popular stops to warm up next to a fire for day hikers. That won’t be available this season. There will, however, be a limited amount of food available served outside the chalets, according to its website. All visitors to the chalet areas will still have access to the restrooms and potable water sources.

To search for an opening at granite park, visit graniteparkchalet.com.