America is an amazing place and on the 4th of July it seemed fitting to post about our National Parks. Unlike the Alps in Europe which are overdeveloped mountain metropolises, the US and Canada boast numerous national parks where nature is left as it is supposed to be, natural. We as Americans are lucky enough to have had these amazing places set aside from development and left for us to enjoy; places like Yosemite in California, Yellowstone in Wyoming, and Glacier National Park in Montana! I headed down to Glacier Nat. Park last weekend with Maire and meet up with my parents for two days of hiking around the lakes, wildflowers, glaciers and wildlife of Montana! We saw a moose, a grizzly bear, beavers, mountain goats and big horn sheep, and the one thing about Glacier that really set it apart from other mountain regions was the bio-diversity that we witnesses. Glacier is at a crossroads of climates with the high and dry prairies to the east, the moist and temperate coastal climate to the west, and the cold stormy weather to the north. These combine to support one of the most diverse biosphere in the country. There are so many wildflowers and other plant life everywhere! It was as if we were hiking through a garden! Here are some photos from the trip, and Happy Birthday America! I am proud to call you home!
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| Leaving the prairies behind and heading up to the mountains! |
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| Meeting back up with the parents! That was a fun trip Mom and Dad! |
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| Swiftcurrent Lake |
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| The Docks at "Many Glacier Lodge". Grinnel point in the background. |
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| The parents on their deck. |
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| Getting ready to board the boat to take us across the lake to the trailhead. |
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| Going towards Grinell Glacier |
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| Up we go! |
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| Bear Grass in front of Grinell Lake and the amazing mountains! |
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| Bear Grass |
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| We hit the snow line and the trail was closed due to buried stream crossings! |
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| Checking out the snowpack! |
It was an amazing first days hike! Up next day 2! We hiked up to Iceberg lake and it was amazing!
Happy 4th of July!
-Travis
What a silly, bigoted comment to start this otherwise fine post. If you think the Alps are overbuilt, it is because you spend the winter season going from one hype-hungry resort to another. Take the time to visit something else than the U.S. and Canada with your free time, and your naiveness will peel off.
ReplyDeleteIts not negativeness, it is just the truth. The Alps encompass a super small area to begin with and there are roads, tunnels, and train crisscrossing every major mountain pass, and villages and towns everywhere you go. I am not trying to take away from the ALps-the mountain infrastructure is what makes the Alps so amazing and accessible, but the problem is that the Alps are not "Wild" any more. Sure there are some glaciers still, but all the big animals have been hunted out, all the valleys are built up and its not at raw as the open spaces of Canada and the US! That said I love both regions!
ReplyDeleteDo not plant your dreams in the field of indecision, where nothing ever grows but the weeds of "what-if."
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