Over-The-Hill Gang enjoys Glacier’s beauty weekly

People who are 50 and older are often looked at as the gray-haired, rocking chair-bound, arthritic, elderly population. It’s just a matter of time before they reach, well, that terminal state – R.I.P. They have been called over the hill. A group of men and women who live in Whitefish, Mont., known as the Over-The-Hill Gang, defies that label every Thursday in Glacier National Park.

Glacier is well known for its beautiful mountain scenery. The park carved from glaciers thousands of years ago that have, for the most part, receded and left rocky, steep terrain that will challenge the physical and climbing ability of even younger climbers. It would be hard to believe that people who are in their 60s or 70s or even 80s are climbing these mountains. But, they are.

During the early 1970s a group of older men, average age 64, began meeting on Thursday mornings to go hiking in Glacier. They agreed to hike every week throughout the year, including the winter months. Their weekly day hikes took them along well-defined trails, like the Highline Trail, that can be reached at the top of the Going-to-the-Sun Highway at Logan Pass, to climbing and scrambling up loose, rocky, undefined trails to reach the top of many of the peaks in the park. Over the years the group has climbed more than 100 mountains, some several times. Sometimes they arrived back home at 1 or 2 in the morning.

One of the original members of the Over-the-Hill Gang has written a book; “Glacier’s Secrets, Beyond the Roads and Above the Clouds.” It’s an entertaining narrative and photo journey of many of their hikes. George Ostrom writes in his book opposite a color photo of Ptarmigan Wall in the distance, and below, Elizabeth Lake, “This shot taken on a rerun for my 66th (birthday) in 1994. We met a charming gentleman on the trail below who was 84. Asked him to join us but said he had a hot date late that afternoon back at Many Glacier Hotel. Every man has his priorities.”

In the early 1990s, women began climbing with the gang. Over the years, sons and daughters joined the Thursday hikes. More recently as the group enlarged, up to five separate groups would head for the Glacier Park mountains. A “B” team is made up of “the kids” who are, except for a few exceptional older men, under 60, and who climb to the top of mountains. The “A” team may not make it to the top; they might go fishing or maybe even take a nap.

Jack Fletcher, who joined the gang in the 1990s, volunteers in the Stump Town Museum in the Amtrak train depot in Whitefish. He still hikes in Glacier and rides his bike to the museum. If you can catch him at the station, Over-the-Hill-Gang stories are easy to find. This hardy, energetic group gives the rest of us hope that turning 50 is not really over the hill.

For the rest of us there are more than 730 miles in the park with well-defined paths. Some of the day hikes are designed for the beginning hiker at almost any age. Listed below are three recommended hikes for those who are new to the park. These trails are well-worn, and those looking for solitude may be disappointed, especially in the summer months.

•McDonald Lake area: The Avalanche Lake Trail is a fairly easy half-day climb of 505 feet elevation in a 2.9 mile hike into the lake. The setting is spectacular with Avalanche Lake surrounded on three sides with steep cliffs. A waterfall fed by Sperry Glacier (which can’t be seen from the lake) drops into the valley on the far end of the lake.

•Logan Pass/Going-to-the-Sun Highway Area: The Hidden Lake Trail can be found at Logan Pass on the Going to the Sun Highway. Behind the visitor center is a boardwalk that leads hikers up 500 feet in a mile and half to an overlook where Hidden Lake is located below and several classic glacier craved mountains are on the horizon. It is a rugged, beautiful sight. Mountain goats, mountain sheep and an occasional bear might be seen.

•Many Glacier area: Iceberg Lake is a 4.5 mile, fairly level hike into a blue-green lake surrounded on three sides by 3,000 foot cliffs. The lake is often frozen over until the middle of July, and has floating ice in the blue water into August. It is truly a spectacular sight in a remote part of Glacier National Park. The trail head is located near Many Glacier Hotel.

Just knowing about the Over-The-Hill gang might encourage others to start hiking in the Park. Climbing to the top of mountains may not be the main objective, but hiking among the beautiful, massive mountains with glaciers and snow banks could provide a Rocky Mountain high.