|
Glacier National Park
Where It Is: Glacier National Park is in Montana and Canada.
It is made up of the joining of Glacier and Waterton Parks. Waterton
was a peace park to celebrate the friendship between Canada and the U.S.
The park covers 1.4 million acres.
How was it formed?
The land was first covered by an ancient sea and it was
flat. Little pieces of rock kept washing into the water and settling to
the bottom. Some of the sediment got hard. 75 million years ago the
earth buckled up to form mountains. Rain coming down the mountains
made valleys. A million years ago glaciers carved V-shaped gullies
into U-shaped gullies. Two glaciers grinding together make an arete
which is a tall, thin, jagged ridge called the Garden Wall. Three
glaciers grinding together made a horn mountain called Reynolds Mountain.
Kidstuff:
If you go or have been to Glacier National Park you can
skip rocks, splash in the cool water in the lakes, creeks and streams.
What could be more fun than that? You could take a trip on a gondola or
take a bobsled ride. In the summer there is the excitement of fast moving
water and huckleberries.
What else is there to do? There are campgrounds, different
kinds of park rangers, self guiding trails, look out towers, unpaved roads,
trails and the Continental Divide. You can get a tour by horseback
or boat. You can see the “hanging gardens.” You can still see lots of glaciers
but you have to be careful because there are deep cracks.
History: Pioneers arrived on horse back and horse and
wagon. The trails were so steep they had to be really careful. American
Indians were the first settlers. There were three main Indian tribes named
Kootenai. The upper tribes were Pend d’ Oreille and the Kalispel Indians.
How To Get There: On your way to Glacier National
Park you would drive on Sun road and then you get to Glacier National Park.
Habitats: Mountains, lakes, forest, meadow, rivers and
valleys are homes for many animals and plants. There are 60 kinds
of wild animals in the park. Some are mountain goats, Bald Eagle,
grizzly bears, black bears, wolves and elk.
So many wolves were hunted that they disappeared but
then in 1980 a wolf pack moved south from Canada to Glacier National Park.
People were so happy they were back that they called them the “Magic Pack”
There are about 200 kinds of birds, ducks and geese such as: Northern
Pintail,Gadwall, Franklin’s Gull, white-faced Ibis, Mallard Duck, Bald
eagle and Canada Geese. There are over a thousand kinds of plants
like Beargrass, a lily that the Native Americans used to eat, glacier lilies
and tons of wildflowers.
Park Rangers: Park Rangers care for famous land.
They also have acres that they are responsible for. They give families
a folder with maps and special rules. The ranger that you are with
will answer your questions.
Park Rangers will show how to find animals that
live in the mud. They also show how to find interesting plants.
The park rangers will tell you stories about your park. To be a park
ranger it takes a lot of studying. The rangers help to find missing
people. They are in charge of mule and horse packing.
The park rangers use a lot of vehicles to find
missing people and to get around. They help to control burning and
count the endangered wildlife.
Being a park ranger must be tough. I am very
glad that they are around to help us. |
