Discovering Eden: Adventure In The Crown of The Continent - Montana's Glacier National Park and North Fork of the Flathead Valley - A True Story (in English)
Synopsis "Discovering Eden: Adventure In The Crown of The Continent - Montana's Glacier National Park and North Fork of the Flathead Valley - A True Story (in English)"
Discovering Eden is a story of exciting adventure in the remote Montana mountain landscape known as the Crown of the Continent. It is the true story of city people who, in 1965, venture into Glacier National Park where they encounter a land of soaring mountains, icy lakes, racing rivers and emptiness. Don and Sue Sullivan learn the ways of wilderness, experience unexpected awe and joy, even survive a grizzly attack. This mountain wilderness calls them back again and again and in the process, transforms their lives. Discovering Eden is a book for those who have not had a taste of adventure in the back country, giving a glimpse of what the world was like ten and twenty thousand years ago before ipads and smart phones. That world remains a world of the "here and now" where tomorrow doesn't matter much and today does. This book conveys at least a hint of the "nourishment of the soul" that vast vistas across empty landscapes can provide. When, in 1981, the Sullivans buy an original homestead in the North Fork Flathead Valley next door to the Park, they learn to live "off the grid" - without electricity, phone or much else. There they encounter grizzly and black bears, mountain lions, Canadian lynx, moose, elk - even the rare wolverine. They find that the few people who live along the 65 mile dirt road bordering the Park tend toward characteristics more prevalent, perhaps, a century ago; self-reliance, toughness, courage, patience, with time to give their neighbor a warm smile and a helping hand. The Sullivan family learns the incredible story of Tom Reynolds, previous owner of their homestead and one of the North Fork Valley's early settlers. An Englishman orphaned at age 6, Tom finds in the Sullivans the family he has longed for all his life. During the following three decades, Don and Sue encounter threats to the unspoiled North Fork environment posed by mining, oil and gas exploration and encroaching civilization. With those few hardy, self-reliant, adventurous souls who live in the North Fork, they fight to preserve a land that remains as it has been since it left the hand of its Creator. Discovering Eden is, in many ways, a story of how the world was in the past; a simpler time in a more peaceful world. The remote northwest corner of Montana remains a place where there is time to look at a wildflower, skip stones over an alpine lake and listen, really listen to a friend.
