GLACIER NATIONAL PARK

July 31, 2014kathiekocourek Leave a comment

We have come back to the United States and are visiting Glacier National Park. So far, this has been Mark’s fav and we have seen some stunning vistas. After we went to Alaska all he wanted to do was build a glacier in our back yard. The man is possessed!

SO, first, some history. Glacier was the 4th National Park. It was commissioned in 1910 and at that time there were 150 glaciers. Today there are 25 and by 2030 there will be none. I am very depressed about this because the whole ecosystem is dependent firstly on the glaciers and then on each facet that makes up the diverse community of plant and wild life.

But before I go off on how badly we have conserved the planet, let’s tour Glacier!Here is Old 98, the million dollar bus. These guys were first commissioned in 1913 and have served the Park ever since, showing us tourists the beauty of the place. Our “Jammer” was Lisa, a retired school principle enjoying life without bratty kids. She was extremely knowledgeable and never once failed to answer the questions we threw her way.

This is St. Mary’s lake near to where we are camped. This morning it was more like a mirror than a lake. The tiny spot above the shrubbery is Spirit Island, the most photographed place in the park.

Ignoring my finger at the top, this is a neat view of one of the barely visible old tourist boats motoring through the still waters.

Sun Rift Gorge is the result of a fault in the Earth’s crust. It is narrow and only a few hundred feet long, but it clearly shows how some of the park was formed. Look closely in the water and you can see red and green stones which are a hallmark of the rocks in the park. They are mainly white limestone, green shale, and red Grinnel formation argillites. All the walls in the park are made with a combo of these rocks.

The face of this peak is Big Chief Mountain. We are now driving on Going To the Sun Road which climbs over 6000 feet in elevation and was built in 1933 with everything having to be hauled to the site. But this is just the beginning!

We are looking at The Crown of the Continent. This is a triple split of the Continental Divide with waters flowing to Atlantic, Pacific, and Arctic Oceans!

This beautiful falls is Step Falls and cascades over layers of shale which have conveniently broken off at regular intervals.

One of the few remaining glaciers on Logan’s Mountain.

Just look. I’ve run out of words!

One of the denizens of the Park who may have to move if we keep messing up our world.

Happy Campers after a great day. But please! Recycle, turn off your lights when you aren’t using them and turn the water off while you are brushing your teeth!!

OH, CANADA, VERSE TWO

July 31, 2014kathiekocourek Leave a comment

I only wanted to show you all some other beautiful places we went, but first just want to let you know the previous post had Canada’s national anthem worked into it. After years of listening to it at hockey games, at last! A use. These are totem poles made by the Japanese sister city to Vancouver. The park is high above the city and overlooks parts of the bay and downtown Vancouver. We also walked about 500 yards of the Trans-Canada Trail. Check! One more off the bucket list! This is the Athabasca Glacier. We visited here in 1977 and rode out to the glacier in the yellow snow machine seen below. This time we went in this fancy new bus of which there are only 14 in the world. Thirteen are here in Canada and the 14th is at McMurdo Base in Antarctica! Ok, so about the glacier. When we were there before, both Mark and I remember it being much bigger. According to the guides it is receding at the rate of about 16 ft. a year. What are we doing to our Earth. This is the new Skywalk which tells of the geological, animal, and flora stories of the Icefields Highway. The old yellow bus. These are two of the beautiful waterfalls we visited. Johnson Canyon is on the left and Athabasca Falls on the right. Driving from Jasper to Banff in the rain gave us a chance to watch Mother Nature doing a strip tease. The rain would come and go, the clouds would raise and lower, and we would be treated to snippets of mountain grandeur. Every corner would give us a new and more beautiful vista than the last and we would pass lakes which were like the turquoise beads in Mother Nature’s necklace Mt. Rundle, near Banff looks like someone picked up a piece of the Earth and just left the jagged edge on the other side. Incredible! This is a marmot growling at everyone looking down at him. We were on top of Sulpher Mountain and saw him lurking under the balcony of the lodge. Another view from the top of Mt.

Sulpher.

Discovered this station at the top. Gives one a pause when thinking about cosmic rays. Are these space alien cosmic rays? Are they from a ray gun somewhere in the universe? Nope! Cosmic rays are from deep outer space and are remnants of powerful radiation. Some protons and neutrons still make it through our atmosphere and apparently it is important to keep track of them and their impact on the Earth.