Glacier National Park

8/13 -- 8/19/2009

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Glacier National Park, located in northwestern Montana on the Canadian border, is characterized by alpine glaciers, turquoise lakes, and Rocky Mountain wildlife. The jagged crest of the Continental Divide lies in the heart of Glacier National Park, splitting Glacier into two climate regions: Pacific fronts bring heavy precipitation and moderate temperatures from the west; dry continental air with desiccating winds creates a colder and more severe environment to the east. For almost three million years, ice was the major erosion force in changing the landscape. These glaciers reached their most recent maximum extent about 20,000 years when the thickness of ice in some valleys was a much as 3000 feet. The last of the Ice Age glaciers melted away between 10,000 and 20,000 years ago. About 1300 a.d., the global climate cooled slightly, resulting in the renewed formation of today's alpine glaciers. In 1850, there were estimated 150 glaciers in the park. With a warming of the climate, only 26 glaciers remain in the park today. Scientists predict all glaciers in Glacier National Park will be gone by the year 2030.

Getting there ...

We had an early morning flight at 6:30AM. Compared with our trip to Big Bend last year, we arrived at the airport a little after 5AM. We found the lines for luggage and security were not long at all (because of economy downturn?), and after about 15 min we were sitting at the gate and having Burger King for breakfast.
We arrived in Missoula at about noon, and were ready to head to Glacier after a quick lunch. However, we quickly found we were stuck in a long section of road construction and a storm. I thought we had time to go through the park (via Going-to-the-Sun road) to "preview" the park scenery, but we decided to go around the park via Highway 2 to East Glacier Park where we stayed at the Glacier Park Lodge for the first 2 nights.

 

 

The Second Day ...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Third Day ...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Fourth Day ...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Fifth Day ...

 

 

 

After a lunch break at the lake shore, we started to hike back up on the trail. Iris and Linus were walking fast and ahead of us quite a bit. Suddenly we saw a family of Mountain Goats appear in front of Iris on the trail. We were all frozen without any movement, and then backed off slowly to the side of the trail to give more room to the goats. The mother goat passed us first, and two baby goats tried to follow. I knelt down to take a few pictures when one baby goat was approaching. My movement seemed scare the baby goat, and he made a few cries for mommy. Finally, the baby goats passed by us and followed their mother's footsteps downhill.

 

 

 

 

The Sixth Day ...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Last Day,

 

Going Home ...

The traffic back to Missoula was much better than the first day when we just arrived. We got to the airport more than an hour earlier and our flight was delayed for more than half an hour, so we had plenty of time to relax at the airport.
Glacier National Park, named the "Crown of the Continent" by John Muir, is a true nature wonder that is worth many and many visits.

 

 


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