The simple life at Glacier's Sperry Chalet
<p>A big billy mountain goat guards the Sperry Chalet, one of two remaining backcountry chalets at Glacier National Park. A big billy mountain goat guards the Sperry Chalet, one of two remaining backcountry chalets at Glacier National Park.</p>
<p>Swan Mountain Outfitter guide Brittany Finch unloads a horse at Sperry Chalet. Swan Mountain Outfitter guide Brittany Finch unloads a horse at Sperry Chalet.</p>
<p>A massive field of bear grass en route to Sperry Chalet. A massive field of bear grass en route to Sperry Chalet.</p>
GLACIER NATIONAL PARK - "Welcome to Sperry Chalet, will you be spending the night?" asks manager Renee Noffke.
Noffke is at the front desk in the dining room, a big smile on her face. The weary women say yes, they are spending the night, as they slip off their packs and hang them next to the door.
The dining room at Sperry is warm and inviting. Coffee is on the stove and there's pie in the oven. Noffke has been the manager here for seven years as the chalet marks its 100th anniversary this summer. Another staffer checks them in and shows the women their room.
A typical day starts at 5 a.m. and ends at 11 p.m. Guests get breakfast and dinner and a sack lunch to take on hikes. Dinner is no ordinary affair. About every three days, the staff cooks up a Thanksgiving-style turkey dinner with all the trimmings.
It makes it worth the walk. Sperry Chalet is the last of two remaining backcountry chalets in Glacier National Park. Granite Park Chalet, perched on Glacier's Garden Wall, is far more rustic and doesn't offer running water.
Sperry on the other hand is a home away from home for travelers willing to make the 6.5-mile, 3,300-foot hike up from the Going-to-the-Sun Road. Most of the hike is in the trees. The views really open up at the chalet's doorstep. What's beyond the chalet is the true draw - Sperry Glacier or Gunsight Pass.
"We have a lot of people who come up regularly," Noffke said last week.
For the staff, "coming up" means staying the summer. Once there, they don't head down until Sept. 9. Nine people work at the chalet, a Park concession managed by Belton Chalets Inc., which is owned by the Luding family. Except for a few years when the chalet was closed for repairs to the septic system, the family has managed the chalet since 1954.
Albert Martens is the baker, Teri Chesler is the cook, Forrest Sill and Annie Rice are waiters, Blair Sorlie is the dishwasher, Ken Dayton is the utility man, and Talitha and Andrea Mack are the housekeepers. Martens has been baking at the chalet for seven years now. He's married, but no matter.
"My wife says it's a sabbatical from me," he said as he stirred a pot of soup.
Martens has always enjoyed baking, even when he was a banker.
"My wife and I did lots of entertaining," he said.
Noffke said the staff is like family. If there's an argument, there's always the surrounding mountains to go cool off in. The chalet is perched on a high ledge below Gunsight Peak and Edwards Mountain.
Most winters, the snow reaches the roof. Opening the chalet is always a challenge. This year, with a snowpack well above average, the staff shoveled out the last two-tenths of a mile of the trail so mules could deliver supplies by opening day, July 10.
"We were shoveling until 10:30 at night," Noffke said.
The snows have since receded. All supplies are brought up by pack string twice a week, and some visitors hire Swan Mountain Outfitters for horse rides to the chalets. But most visitors just make the hike.
Guests Gail and John Richardson were spending two nights at the chalet and planned to hike to Gunsight Pass and Sperry Glacier. Staying at the chalet makes the trip more pleasant, the Bozeman couple said.
"It's nice to have someone else cook," John said.
For Noffke, Sperry Chalet is her summer job. In winter, she heads to McMurdo Station in the Antarctic, where she manages a camp during its summer.
"My goal is to not work at a desk," she said.
Chris Peterson is a reporter with the Hungry Horse News in Columbia Falls, Mont.