Glacier National Park

We drove into Glacier National Park today. Unfortunately the clouds hung low and there was a steady rain all day. It was about 36° F. (2° C.) most of the drive.



On the west side of the park near Whitefish, Montana. . .10 miles or so of the Road-to-the-Sun was plowed up to Lake McDonald Lodge. The Road-to-the-Sun runs east-west through Glacier. At the east end it emerges at St. Marys, Montana in the Blackfoot Indian Reservation.



Built in 1914, Lake McDonald Lodge is nestled on the shores of the largest lake inside Glacier National Park. Above, the 3-story lodge was barely visible behind a huge pile of snow. B. stands in front of the snow for scale.



Above: Lake McDonald at its eastern terminus.

Only 131 of the parks dozen large lakes and 700 smaller ones have been named. Lake McDonald, St. Mary Lake, Bowman Lake and Kintla Lake are the four largest lakes. Numerous smaller lakes, known as tarns, are located in cirques formed by glacial erosion.



Above: The lake-facing side of McDonald Lodge. It was a slippery crawl up those steps. The rain was freezing as it hit the ground and the snow had formed into a mostly ice-block-like-mass.



Some of these lakes, like Avalanche Lake and Cracker Lake, are colored an opaque turquoise by suspended glacial silt, which also causes a number of streams to run milky white. With temperatures rarely above 50 °F (10 °C) at their surface, the lakes of Glacier National Park remain cold year round. Cold water lakes such as these support little plankton growth, ensuring that the lake waters are remarkably clear.



Above: A show plow. Something I've rarely seen. Notice the chains on its tires.

Below: The lakes were lovely despite the dreary, raw weather. I was soaking wet by the end of the day. We also never saw the tall peaks of Glacier as they remained shrouded in clouds the entire day.



To see the rest of the day's photos go to: PHILLIP'S NATURAL WORLD III.