The smoky haze is lifting a bit and the mountains at West Glacier are becoming more profound! We took a ride on Lake McDonald late this afternoon. It was a very pleasant, peaceful hour-long ride. I wish it could have been longer.
Lake McDonald is Glacier National Park's biggest lake; ten miles long and 472 feet deep. Filling a basin gouged out by Ice Age glaciers, Lake McDonald is a classic glacial feature. This long fjord-like lake is surrounded by mountains on the north, south, and east with the Continental Divide, 14 miles away. The mountains provide a spectacular backdrop for the lake and also act as a rain block. Much of the blocked precipitation ends up falling on the McDonald valley. The result is a mild, damp climate. Stands of western red cedar and hemlock flourish in the valley of Lake McDonald.
Way, way above you can barely see this structure, which we think is a fire ranger station.
It was a summer of smoke and fire. Twelve years ago this month, a combination of drought, high winds, lightning strikes and human carelessness caused vast fires that scorched thousands of acres, shut down the west side of Glacier National Park for days on end, and cost taxpayers more than $104 million as the fires burned for three months. All told, from the Canadian border south to Condon, wildfires burned 310,000 acres, including 133,000 acres in Glacier Park — more than 10 percent of the Park. You can see rebirth of the trees.
McDonald Lodge - The lodge is a 3-1/2-story structure built in a Swiss chalet style based on Kirtland Cutter's design. The foundation and first floor walls are built of stone, with a wood-frame superstructure. The lobby is a large, open space that extends to the third story. It has a massive fireplace and a concrete floor scored in a flagstone pattern, with messages in several Indian languages inscribed into it. The rustic lodge is a National Historical Landmark.
Inside the McDonald Lodge lobby.
Tomorrow morning, very early, we will be taking the Going-To-The-Sun Road to St. Mary in East Glacier! We are hoping to see early morning wildlife along the way and to beat the weekend traffic!
Until next blog ...
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