Grandmother and granddaughter hike for a cause in Glacier Park

Though 70 years separate them, Kay Knapton and Olivia Secord share a love of hiking in Glacier National Park.

At 81, Knapton has been exploring Glacier since her days growing up in Whitefish, and even though she now lives in Washington, she still finds herself returning to her hometown every year to ski and hike.

Secord, who turned 11 this summer, joined her grandmother for her first hike in Glacier when she was 3 years old, taking on a 2-mile trail with more than a 1,000- foot gain in elevation.

“It took us all day, but she just kept going,” Knapton said about her granddaughter. “The next time I asked her if she wanted to go for a hike, she said yes. We have been hiking together ever since.”

When the pair got the opportunity to hike in the park this summer while raising money for a worthy cause, they jumped at the chance.

Calling themselves the Old Goat and the Young Goat (an homage to one of the park’s most iconic animals as well as Knapton’s past as a PBX operator for Great Northern Railway), the pair fought off the heat and smoke to put in more than 100,000 steps and 50 miles on Glacier’s trails in August while raising money for the Glacier Park Conservancy and climate awareness.

With the help of Climate Ride, a Missoula-based nonprofit organization that organizes life-changing charitable biking, running, and hiking events to raise awareness and support sustainability, active transportation, and environmental causes, Knapton and Secord were able to raise just over $9,000.

“It was an easy decision to make as far as where our funds should go,” Knapton said. “I follow the Conservancy’s activities and see they try to make the park more accessible and meaningful to everyone with education programs that benefit all.”

NOW THE duo will get to share their experience with others Wednesday evening as part of the Conservancy’s “Glacier Conversations,” an online series that uses Zoom meetings to explore different aspects of Glacier National Park.

Knapton said she plans to share details of how she and her granddaughter made a pact that, in spite of Covid and associated lockdowns, they would train together to get ready. Together they spent at least one day a week training, taking on several hikes around the Seattle area, including ones on Mt. Rainier and on the Olympic Peninsula.

With a planned ice cream treat awaiting them at the end of their August adventure, the pair took on hikes to areas throughout the park to areas such as Piegan Pass, the St. Mary Area Waterfalls, Grinnell Glacier and a hike in the Two Medicine area.

“I’ve done most of those hikes before, but getting to do them again with my granddaughter was amazing,” Knapton said. “Ironically, though, we saw just about every animal but a mountain goat on our hikes. I know where to look for the mountain goats, but they just weren’t there.”

Despite the Old Goat and Young Goat not getting to see their namesake while on their adventure, Knapton said she and her granddaughter thoroughly enjoyed getting to spend so much time together while doing something they love.

“I look at the two of us with 70 years difference between us and we are still having a great time together. We are outdoors and doing something that is good for both of us and in the meantime we managed to raise some funds that are good for the park and the community,” she said. “Age is not a barrier. You just have to keep moving and doing what you love. You can do more than you think you can. Sometimes you just have to push forward and take that next step, whether it is up a mountain or down one. If you do that, you can accomplish a lot. A successful life is making the world a little better than how you found it.”

Learn more:

Those interested in participating in the Conservancy’s ‘Glacier Conversations” series must register online beforehand at https://glacier.org/glacier-conversations/ for the meeting, which runs from 6:30-7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 8.

Reporter Jeremy Weber may be reached at 406-758-4446 or jweber@dailyinterlake.com.