Hello everyone!
This week turned out to be full of lots of fun things! I was able to spend a few days out at Many Glacier as planned. I gathered a couple of good friends and a few bikes, and we headed toward the east side of the park on Tuesday morning. When we got to the gate, we assembled our bikes and set off for the seven mile bike ride into Many Glacier. The last time I was out there, there were ten snow drifts to walk over. This time I counted three! Everything is melting so fast, including Lake Sherburn, the lake that the road parallels. The bike ride in was nice except for the strong wind pushing against us the entire way. It felt like the entire trip was uphill because of the wind! After four miles, I got a flat tire. I ran over a sharp rock and was unable to repair the leak. I was forced to walk my bike the last three miles while my friends, Stephanie and Jim, rode off towards the cabin. At last, I made it to the cabin to join everyone else.
Wednesday morning, Jeff and I repaired my bike tire. I was very happy to know I wouldn't have to walk the whole way out! In the late morning we all headed outside for a hike. We chose to climb Mt. Altyn, the mountain that overlooks the cabin. The climb was steep, with large sections of snow and loose rock called scree. We spooked about fifty bighorn sheep that were grazing on the side of the mountain. They took off running across the slopes. I think they were very surprised to see us on their grazing grounds! We pressed on and made it up to the summit of the mountain by late afternoon. We were greeted by a beautiful mountain goat on the summit, but he quickly took off down the cliffs of the mountain. We also watched a bald eagle flying gracefully through the sky. It was so beautiful up there! We were surrounded by snow covered peaks and frozen lakes. From the summit we could see seven lakes! We could also see the hotel three thousand feet below us. We relaxed for a short time, took some photos, then headed back down the mountain. The trip down was very fast and very fun. What had taken most of the afternoon to climb, took only an hour and a half to get down. We ran down the soft scree fields and slid down the patches of snow. The snow was so soft from the warm afternoon sun that we were able to control our speed and safely descend the mountain. When we got back to the road, we biked back to the cabin and arrived with plenty of light left in the sky. For the rest of the night, we all lounged around and relaxed. I think we deserved it!
Thursday morning, I took a stroll up above the hotel to survey the disappearing snow drifts. I was surprised to see how little snow there was! This winter has really been unlike past winters. Later, Stephanie, Jim, and I saddled up on our bikes and waved goodbye to Jeff. It took a mere forty minutes to get back to the car. There was no wind and the sun was nice and warm on our faces. We couldn't have asked for better weather!
Now that spring is here, I just can't wait for summer. I love living in Glacier National Park and hiking everyday. I already have my eyes set on several mountains that I want to climb! It won't be long. I will be back at Lake McDonald in a little over a month. Before I head into the park to work though, I will be headed on a little road trip. I will be spending a few days in Yellowstone National Park before I go to see my family. Did anyone pick Yellowstone NP way back when we were talking about national parks? Yellowstone NP was the first national park ever created here in the United States. It was established in 1872! Yellowstone's establishment is very important because it paved the way for the rest of the national parks that we have today. Since I will be spending some time in the park in a few weeks, we are going to spend the next couple of weeks talking about it. Then, after I visit the park, I will show you all of my pictures!
To get an idea of what Yellowstone looks like, click on the link below, and flip through the slide show of pictures.
http://travel.nationalgeographic.com/travel/national-parks/yellowstone-photos/
Yellowstone NP is really cool because it is full of geothermal activity. This is because there is a supervolcano underneath the park. There are many geysers, boiling mudpots, and hotsprings throughout the park. There are more than 300 geysers in the park! Does everyone know what a geyser is? A geyser is a vent in the earth's surface that periodically emits a fountain of boiling hot water and steam. Old Faithful is Yellowstone's most famous geyser. It erupts every 90 minutes and shoots boiling hot water 100-200 feet in the air! On a trip to Iceland a few years ago, I got to see many geysers. They are very impressive! Check out this website below. It has more information on geysers.
http://geology.com/articles/geyser.shtml
http://geology.com/articles/geyser.shtml
You can click on the first video to see Old Faithful erupt. The second video is that of a geyser in Iceland. I have actually seen this one erupt in real life! The tallest active geyser in the world is Steamboat Geyser in Yellowstone. When it erupts, it shoots boiling hot water 300 feet into the air. You wouldn't want to stand too close! Unfortunately, Steamboat Geyser has only erupted ten times in the past twenty years. Waimangu Geyser in New Zealand used to be the tallest geyser in the world. When it erupted, it shot water 1,600 feet into the air! However, it hasn't erupted since 1902 when a landslide changed the hydrology of the area.
Assignment: I want you to find out how a geyser works. You can use the website below to help you. Once you have figured out how a geyser works, I want you to draw a picture showing me what you've learned. I am relying on you to teach me how a geyser works.
See you next week!
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