Glacier National Park-U.S.-Continental Divide

To my loyal readers--We have been out of connection for the last 5 days that we spent at the National Parks. These are coming not on real time.


Glacier National Park-
September 5, 2009

Continental Divide
This morning we planned to drive to the West Side of the park. I wanted to see what made that more popular. David said that the west side is warmer and less windy but rains more. This weather difference is apparently because of this called the Continental Divide. As far as I understand it is a fault under the Rockies that travels on the same lane north/south through all of N. America. It holds lots of water. When rain or snow falls on this fault area, all the snow that falls on the West side goes out to the Pacific, the precipitation that falls on the East side goes to the Hudson Bay and all the wetness that falls on the South side goes to the Atlantic.

Lesson on Rocks
At an early pull off for an overlook we noticed 3 mini-buses marked Whitman College, Walla Walla WA. It was a geology field trip and 3 professors were explaining the rock formations. I was fascinated.

The different kinds of rock are fairly easily identifiable if you know rock. Layers of rock pile on top of each other to make a mountain. I had wanted to know what makes different colored layers on mountains and seems to be because they are different rocks. Near water the bottom layer is sandstone and then on top of that is shale and then on top of that may be a carbonate. A carbonate is a layer of rock of which fossilized shells and animals form a white layer. There are names for all different rock layer groups. For example a mountain made of sandstone, then shale, then carbonate has a name to identify the group and then if that mountain is grouped with others with characteristics there is a name for that group. There are also angles of rocks that happen when they converge and these angles are called orthogonal. Geologists can tell where rock slides will occur from the angle of the rocks. Also, when you look at mountains with vegetation you can see vertical lines down the mountain where rock slides can occur.

There is a term for rocks that crack easily. These cracks get increased as ice and silt forms in them. They measure the angle of the cracks in these rocks.
Biggest glaciers are on the NE corner of a mountain.
Acid is often used to identify a rock. The biggest glaciers are on the Northeast side of a mountain. This is because they melt less and get more cold wind.

My own Cairns

Since we got lost yesterday I decided that on each trail today as the path turned I would put down some stones that I could recognize that pointed in the direction home. At first I thought that I was doing a Hansel but then I realized that I was actually making cairns like the ancients. And they work.

Tree lines are beginning of the Alpine Areas
5880 is the treelike on the mountains here.
I was watching for the trees to disappear as we entered alpine and sub-alpine areas. Our GPS gives elevations so it is easy to see how high we are by pushing a button. I saw the treelike as being at 5880 but a ranger intern said it was 6440. In alpine areas there are no trees and it is colder and windier and the sun is more intense. Very few plants and animals can adapt to this. On the other hand, if you can adapt to this you have the advantage of being in a place inhospitable to predators. Plants that adapt sometimes have swollen and hairy leaves that allow it to hold more water. There is at least one plant that turns red in the winter. The bright color allows it to absorb more sun and to photosynthesize at lower temps than green plants. When summer comes it begins to turn green.

.Remnants from forest fires
We saw a large area on our drive that had white skeletons of trees for miles. This was apparently a big fire. At one point on our road we saw 4 t black cows with piercings in an ear and other places but this was to show who they belonged to. They stood right at the asphalt road edge waiting to cross the road as cars sped by a 70mph.

Clickety Clack Butterflies

In the east side of the park are numbers of yellow butterflies with black trim. When they fly their wings must touch each other and each time they make a large clickety clack.

McDonald Lodge
On our drive on the Road to the Rising Sun (as the park road is called) we stopped to see the stately old lodges in the park. These were built in the early 20th century and look like giant log cabins with Native American furnishings. I love the big lobbies with the really high ceilings and the long outdoor porches that are lined with rockers or other comfy chairs to look out at the mountains, the lakes, the trees. They have nice dining rooms, lounges, gift shops, card rooms—all within the Lodge building.

My favorite is McDonald Lodge. When it was built there were no roads in the park and visitors had to arrive there by boats on the lake.