Movie Makers (Jan-Dec 1949)

290 LETS GO TO GLACIER! LUCIA LEWIS COLOR, sharp contrasts and — most important of all — plenty of action make Glacier National Park, in Montana, a favorite of film makers. The second largest park in our national system, it is never overcrowded, for there are only sixty eight miles of motor highway in this vast area. Thus, films of Glacier never look like pictures of jammed summer playgrounds back home; yet they are not just reels of mountains rising in lonely grandeur. The magnificent scenery is, rather, a background for exciting action. You'll find saddle and hiking parties, always photogenic and entertaining. You may film some thrilling mountain climbing sequences and certainly you will catch many lively fishing scenes. The picturesque Blackfeet Indians are good for a study in themselves. And among the most interesting of all subjects are animals in action, which you are sure to find along the trails of Glacier. TRAILS FOR THE TENDERFOOT There are no poisonous snakes, no poison oak and no poison ivy to harass the timid vacationist. The 800 miles of hiking and riding trails are limited to a 15 percent grade, so that you can hike quite confidently alone, with your own party or in guided groups with a ranger-naturalist. You may take your meals and lodging at the many comfortable hotels or chalets throughout the park; or you may choose to join one of the series of ten day camping trips offered each summer by Wilderness Trails. While it is possible to get a fine holiday film on a short motor coach tour, the real camera fan will hit the trails on the hoof for shots which dazzle the folks back home. TRAIL RIDING IS TOPS among Glacier's galaxy of outdoor activities. Note the sense of depth created by three pronounced planes of picture. CINE SCENE STEALERS and traffic stoppers are the bears in Glacier Park. Caution: film only as directed— with telephoto. EASY OF ACCESS Although Glacier is so carefully preserved as a natural wilderness, it is one of the most easily accessible of the national parks. The only park on the main line of a transcontinental railroad, it is served by Great Northern's Oriental Limited fleet, with trains stopping daily at both entrances of the park. The Glacier Park Hotel is only a short stroll from the station, and from this base you can reach hundreds of rare picture spots by hiking trail, by saddle or by motor coach. Attractive booklets, many with maps and illustrations in full color, are available at the hotel as a valuable aid in your later titling and editing. SUNDRY SMALL ANIMALS When you start along the trails you'll find a drainage at one of the thousands of rivers and streams, where a beaver dam will give you your first animal study. A little patient waiting, especially towards sunset, will be rewarded with some fine pictures of the busy little beaver colony. They are often joined by muskrats as well, with whom the beavers seem to share their quarters in quite brotherly fashion. Mink are found along most of the streams and lakes, and sometimes you'll be able to catch on film an otter or a marten. Whistling marmots and other small animals are natural born actors, but don't let these scene stealers take all your footage. Mule deer and whitetail deer are abundant at easily accessible spots, and elk are seen along many trails. Since Glacier boasts almost a million acres of secluded refuge, these animals are not so timid that you get only the usual flash of a white tail bounding away in the trees. We have seen many fine amateur films of elk herds feeding, a doe watching over her browsing fawn or swimming across a lake and scrambling up a bank as a launch broke the quiet of the wilds.