When we try to pick out anything by itself,
we find it hitched to everything else
in the Universe.
John Muir
 |
| Mike and Adam biked to the top of Going-to-the-Sun road. Great fun on way back down. |
While in the North West USA, we visited Glacier National Park before heading back to Mexico.
 |
Mike by the Eastern beach of Cozumel.
Red numbers on the road match the number on the red sticks on the beach.
Each represent a turtle nest full of eggs that have been brought to a sanctuary for their safety.
They will safely be released back to sea later.
|
 |
| Hotel at McDonald Lake - Natural Look of "parkitecture' |
 |
| Hand painted lanterns grace the interior |
 |
| One of 33 Red Vintage, circa 1930's, refurbished busses traveling through the park. |
The year
after it opened (1910), Glacier National Park (GNP) had 4,000 visitors. In 2016, it had over 2.9 million visitors.
GNP
contains 700 miles of hiking trails.
GNP is the
world’s first International Peace Park – Canada and the USA working together to
preserve it.
GNP’s
inception was so early in US/Canada history that its wildlife has barely
changed since Lewis and Clark’s expedition (1805 in Montana). The only animals no longer present are the woodland
caribou and the bison.
Mountain
goats are an important part of the identity of GNP – they are its official
symbol. If you cross to the Canadian
side of GNP, your passport will be stamped with a mountain goat logo.
Two threatened
species live in the park. The grizzly
bear and the Canadian lynx. There are about
240 grizzly bears in GNP – that number has been consistent since 2006. I couldn’t find a number for the lynx. |
| Largest lake in GNP - Lake McDonald. Warm enough to swim without wetsuit in July! |
 |
| Grandkids enjoyed the clear water |
 |
| Avalanche Lake - several waterfalls still feeding it |
 |
| Avalanche Lake - Clear but much colder than McDonald Lake |
Vintage
refurbished (by Ford motor) red transport busses from the 1930’s that run on
propane help keep the number of vehicles traversing the park down. The drivers of these vehicles are called
‘Jammers’ because of the sound the old transmissions’ gears made when shifting
on the steep roads of the park.
One of the
park’s peak supplies water to three separate oceans. Triple Divide Peak’s waters flow to the
Pacific, the Atlantic, and the Arctic.
The park’s
highest peak is Mt. Cleveland at 10,479 feet (3,194 meters).
The park
covers over 1 million acres but ½ of it is privately owned and not open to the
public.
The park
is flanked by the Flathead Indian Reservation to its west and south, the
Blackfeet Indian Reservation to the east, and Canada to the north. The GNP mountains still hold spiritual
significance for the Blackfeet, the Salish, and the Kootenai tribes.
The
Going-To-The-Sun road which crosses the park and travels over the continental
divide is an amazing engineering feat.
From that road you can see waterfalls, glaciers, valleys, lakes, rivers,
grassy fields, and wildlife.
 |
| On the way to Iceberg Lake |
 |
| Layers of flora before the peaks |
 |
| Bear grass in bloom - various stages |
 |
| Just before Iceberg Lake - field of yellow glacier lilies |
 |
| Iceberg Lake - still pieces of ice floating around - shivering just thinking about it. |
- 762 lakes of which 131 are named. The largest lake is Lake McDonald at 9.4 miles by 1.5 miles and a depth of 464 feet!
- 563 streams (both intermittent and perennial) covering a length of 2,865 miles. The longest stream is 25.8 miles.
- 200 waterfalls
- 175 mountains
- 26 glaciers (in 1850 there were 150 glaciers). Glaciers may all be gone by 2020, only 2.5 years away!
There is nothing like the present. This is a gorgeous place that we will forever remember.
 |
DAWN by Laura Richards and William Grant Turnbull.
Male pronghorn club-tail dragonfly - 50 times true size. Hayden, ID.
Stainless steel, blown glass, LED lights.
|
No comments:
Post a Comment
We are always happy to hear from you but at times it may take a while to get a reply - all depends if we have access to the internet.