Sunday, July 28, 2013

July 28 – Glacier National Park




We be Jammin’!  We traveled the Road to the Sun in a 1936 red Jammer. The name reflects the sound made changing gears in the pre-automatic days.  The roof rolled back and we had an awesome view of mountains, glaciers and waterfalls! When we stopped for photos, we popped up and shot through the roof! Our first stop at McDonald Lodge was for a view of the lake and to see the 99-year-old lodge. 




  The park was created from part of the Blackfeet Reservation and organized in 1910.  It preserves five ecosystems that exist within 50 miles: rain forest, subalpine, alpine, grassland and prairie.  The rainforest of hemlocks and cedars is the eastern edge of the Pacific rainforests.  The cedars were as old as 1,000 years and can reach 230 feet tall.


Logan Pass sits astride the Continental Divide.  The alpine location is a popular spot for hikers and wildlife.  A white mountain goat showed off her calf in a field of wildflowers.  Off in the distance, a group of Big Horn Sheep relaxed on a stony slope and blended in very well. 



 From St. Marys Lake we had a spectacular view of glaciers, the emerald lake and Wild Goose Island.  In 1850 explorers estimated there were about 150 glaciers in the area.  Today there are only 25 and scientists expect them all to melt by 2030.  A glacier by definition has three properties: 25 acres large, 100 feet  thick and moving.  Glaciers carved this terrain and left a u-shaped valley and two sided mountain peaks.








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