Montana 2004: Glacier National Park
We entered Glacier National Park at the West Entrance and took Going-to-the-Sun Road to Saint Mary's Entrance on the East side. Designated a national park in May 1910, the park is over 1,000,000 acres so we only saw a small portion. Glacier National Park is filled with breath-taking scenary. The road twists and turned as it ascends and descends the mountains into valleys.
Lake McDonald in Glacier National Park.
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Lake McDonald is the largest lake in Glacier National Park at 10 miles long and over 400 feet deep. The Continental Divide follows the crest of the mountains visible in the background. The mountains create perfect growing conditions for forest species much more typically found on the Pacific Coast, like western red cedar and western hemlock.

The various colors going up the mountains are a result of a forest fire in August 2003. The bottom two-thirds of the mountain were consumed by the fire and the upper one-third remains a vibrant green.
Glacier National Park tourists.  Glacier National Park.  Amy and Cowboy Joe.  Lake McDonald.  Glacier National Park.  Tammy, Amy and Amanda.  Glacier National Park.  Glacier National Park. 
 
During the last ice age, huge glaciers, often over three thousand feet thick, scoured away the mountains, creating deep valleys and knife-like mountain ridges. As the glaciers gradually slid down from the peaks, the glaciers moved a tremendous amount of material in front of them, known as a moraine. As the ice age began to end, the glaciers in the lower elevations began to melt. The melting water collected in the depressions where the glaciers previously were, and, trapped by the moraines deposited by the glaciers, formed massive lakes that run right up into the mountains. Today, Glacier National Park still has some small glaciers, although they do not date from the last ice age.

The result is a beautiful National Park full of amazing picture opportunities. As stated, we stayed on the main road but Glacier National Park is full of hiking trails and camping sites. Several peaks, lakes and rivers are not accessible by road. Hopefully when Amanda is older and better able to walk and appreciate the natural beauty we will return to explore the miles of hiking trails available.
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Glacier National Park.  Glacier National Park.  Glacier National Park.  Glacier National Park.  Glacier National Park.  Glacier National Park. 
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