Today we drove the Going to the Sun Road in Glacier National Park. It was only the second day the road had been opened this season. They had been clearing the snow at Logan Pass, on the Continental Divide, the location of the Visitor Center. As we drove the road, something occurred to me. When we were in the Black Hills of South Dakota, it was all about Harleys and black leather. In Glacier it is all about bicycles and spandex. Quite a contrast, don’t you think?
Sun Road was awesome. I don’t mean awesome like my middle school students do. I mean it leaves you full of awe. The mountains appear sharp and jagged at the top rather than rounded like the Colorado Rockies. Hubby tells me it is because the Montana Rockies are limestone, whereas the Colorado Rockies are granite. He is always so full of…valuable information. We were stunned by the devastation from the Trapper Fire, which happened in 2003 and jumped Going to the Sun Road. Fires that year destroyed 53,315 acres of the park, one of the worst years for fires in Glacier’s history. The only new growth that is evident at this point are grasses and wildflowers. From a distance however, all you can see are huge brown patches on the mountains. Even knowing that it can be healthy for the forest to burn and begin re-growth, with the burned trees adding nutrients to the soil, it is still stark and scary looking.
I consider myself to be ecologically conscientious. I believe in the message of the documentary, “An Inconvenient Truth.” I know the world’s glaciers are melting. However, learning that the Jackson glacier will be gone by the year 2030, drove it home. That is, the Lord willing, in my lifetime! I feel guilty, burning all that fossil fuel and putting all those pollutants in the air by driving 1200 miles to get here and then the same getting home.
There weren’t the crowds we expected on Sun Road. We wondered if it was because of gas prices going through the roof or that the road had only been open 2 days. Most likely it is a combination of the two. The road is so-o-o-o narrow in places. It was down to 1 lane for awhile due to road repairs, but that seemed to provide breaks in the pull-out areas for scenic views. We did get a lot of photos!
We finished the drive at the St. Mary entrance to the park. It was about an hours drive back around to the west side of the park where the cabin is located. When you are on the east side of the Continental Divide, you would think you are in a different world. The west side is so lush, while the east side is desert-y. (I like to make-up words like that, but it makes the spell-checker crazy!)
Hubby, Ruby the Wonder Dog, and I were exhausted when we finally made it back to the cabin. Too tired to think of what to fix for dinner, so we went to West Glacier to get dinner and give me a chance to do a little homework for the online class I am taking. I have to do homework where I can get a WiFi connection. We haven’t found a single place where you can connect for free. One time, we had to pay $10 to connect for an hour! I could connect using my cell phone as a modem, but we are so remote, there is no cell signal. We got home around 10:30 PM and crashed and burned.
It was a good day. A really good day.
Sun Road was awesome. I don’t mean awesome like my middle school students do. I mean it leaves you full of awe. The mountains appear sharp and jagged at the top rather than rounded like the Colorado Rockies. Hubby tells me it is because the Montana Rockies are limestone, whereas the Colorado Rockies are granite. He is always so full of…valuable information. We were stunned by the devastation from the Trapper Fire, which happened in 2003 and jumped Going to the Sun Road. Fires that year destroyed 53,315 acres of the park, one of the worst years for fires in Glacier’s history. The only new growth that is evident at this point are grasses and wildflowers. From a distance however, all you can see are huge brown patches on the mountains. Even knowing that it can be healthy for the forest to burn and begin re-growth, with the burned trees adding nutrients to the soil, it is still stark and scary looking.
I consider myself to be ecologically conscientious. I believe in the message of the documentary, “An Inconvenient Truth.” I know the world’s glaciers are melting. However, learning that the Jackson glacier will be gone by the year 2030, drove it home. That is, the Lord willing, in my lifetime! I feel guilty, burning all that fossil fuel and putting all those pollutants in the air by driving 1200 miles to get here and then the same getting home.There weren’t the crowds we expected on Sun Road. We wondered if it was because of gas prices going through the roof or that the road had only been open 2 days. Most likely it is a combination of the two. The road is so-o-o-o narrow in places. It was down to 1 lane for awhile due to road repairs, but that seemed to provide breaks in the pull-out areas for scenic views. We did get a lot of photos!
We finished the drive at the St. Mary entrance to the park. It was about an hours drive back around to the west side of the park where the cabin is located. When you are on the east side of the Continental Divide, you would think you are in a different world. The west side is so lush, while the east side is desert-y. (I like to make-up words like that, but it makes the spell-checker crazy!)
Hubby, Ruby the Wonder Dog, and I were exhausted when we finally made it back to the cabin. Too tired to think of what to fix for dinner, so we went to West Glacier to get dinner and give me a chance to do a little homework for the online class I am taking. I have to do homework where I can get a WiFi connection. We haven’t found a single place where you can connect for free. One time, we had to pay $10 to connect for an hour! I could connect using my cell phone as a modem, but we are so remote, there is no cell signal. We got home around 10:30 PM and crashed and burned.It was a good day. A really good day.
No comments:
Post a Comment