Workers put in long days on Glacier trails

Waking up to a panorama of green forest in the Flathead Valley was a big change of scenery for a group of Sierra Club members from Las Vegas.

And the views got greener as the group made its way to Glacier National Park for a tour of duty repairing storm-damaged trails in the Two Medicine Valley.

The inspiration for this work trip, like many others before, was Lake Blaine resident Ed Rothfuss and his wife, Marge.

"Ed's become famous because he's led these work trips," said Jack Sawyer, a Las Vegas librarian who coordinates Sierra Club hiking activities in southern Nevada. "He's special because of his love for the parks and the respect he commands from park staff."

That respect comes largely from Ed's 39-year career in the National Park Service, a career that included work as Glacier Park's chief interpreter from 1971 to 1979.

When Ed Rothfuss retired about 10 years ago, the couple moved back to their place at Lake Blaine for summer living and took up a winter residence in Las Vegas.

After joining the local chapter of the Sierra Club, the couple started organizing volunteer work parties.

First it was regular work trips in Death Valley National Park. Then there were trips to Great Basin National Park, the Grand Canyon, Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area and Lake Meade.

Rothfuss broadened the volunteer work with a trip to Kalaupapa National Historic Site at the request of one of his former Glacier employees, Sue Bushel, a Columbia Falls High School graduate who was working there.

Then came a trip to Virgin Islands National Park, and this year, Rothfuss rallied Sierra

Club volunteers to Glacier in response to the severe trail damage from last November's heavy rains.

About a dozen turned out for the trip. Kalispell residents Doug and Patsy Morton pitched in on the effort, and Bushel, now retired in Great Falls, also showed up for a week of hard work with benefits.

"It's an educational opportunity," Sawyer said. "We get to meet park personnel and we get to learn about the parks."

Las Vegas volunteer Par Rasmusson said past work trips have instilled an appreciation for well-maintained trails.

"I know now as I hike trails they just didn't happen that way," he said. "They take a lot of work … And you never know who did it."

Working under Glacier trail supervisor Mary Schneider, the crew concentrated on a roughly four-mile stretch of the trail on the north shore of Upper Two Medicine Lake.

"She worked our tails off," Rothfuss said of Schneider. "She is tough. She is physically strong and she gets things done."

The volunteers rebuilt sections of damaged trail, moving big rocks by wheelbarrow and fill material with cloth bags. They cleared brush and obstacles on the trail.

"Everybody felt it was one of the hardest trips we did, but also one of the most rewarding," Rothfuss said. "You can't beat Glacier. Every day we probably hiked three to six miles working on those trails. Every night we came back tired, but happy."

Reporter Jim Mann may be reached at 758-4407 or by e-mail at jmann@dailyinterlake.com