Places – Autumn in Glacier National Park

Glacier National Park (1 October 2018)

As promised, this year’s Election Season screeds will be interspersed with images and memories from beautiful, natural settings. I can think of few places with grandeur that matches the American mountain west in autumn. Snow has returned to the peaks while the aspen in the foothills turns gold and stands out from the evergreen stands.

 

Glacier National Park (1 October 2018)

Glacier National Park was established in 1910 and encompasses over a million acres. In 2018, we rented a cabin outside the park and made daily visits where we could.

While October meant fewer visitors to contend with and the beauty of autumn color, it also gave us less than ideal weather. When it wasn’t raining, the skies were very overcast. Also, by this time, the famous Going-to-the-Sun-Road that traverses the park was closed for the season. We could travel only so far up either end and had to turn back…lots of driving, but the scenery was hard to beat.

Blackfeet Indian Memorial

Glacier National Park (1 October 2018)

Before ceding their land to the federal government, the Blackfoot

Tribe lived in the eastern area of the park while the Flathead Tribe

existed in the western part, beyond the continental divide.

Saint Mary Lake and Wild Goose Island

Glacier National Park (1 October 2018)

Close to the eastern entrance to the park, the lake and

its backdrop of mountains are seen from the Sun Road.

Glacier National Park (2 October 2018)

Near Lake McDonald and the western entrance

to the park, a lone picnic table and pavement

are blanketed by rain-soaked autumn leaves

Glacier National Park (1 October 2018)

The northern border of the park is Canada. The mountains here were carved by the great Ice Age, ten to twelve thousand years ago. At the end of the last Little Ice Age (1850), there were 150 glaciers in the area. By 2010, only 37 glaciers remained and just 25 had an area of 25 acres which qualifies them as ‘active.’ As climate continues to warm, all the park’s glaciers are expected to disappear within a decade.