@glaciernps

They waddle, they whistle, they bask in the sun. They’re the super sleepers of the alpine, the wonderous whistle pigs, or simply, the marmots. In the summertime, these spunky rodents provide endless entertainment for visitors to the high country, but come late summer and early fall, marmots suddenly seem to disappear from their high-elevation terrain. Where have they gone? Much like bears, marmots sleep away the winter, escaping the harsh conditions and food-barren landscape. However, marmots enter their dens much earlier in the season, typically in September. They don’t emerge again until May, when they can find a consistent food source. During this 8-month slumber, marmots’ bodies slow down, their body temperature drops (sometimes as low as 41°F 🤯) and their heart and breathing rates are greatly reduced, all in the sake of energy conservation. If they have packed on enough pounds, they will survive to see another gluttonous summer of chowing down on alpine plants and basking in the summer sunshine—an admirable winter survival strategy indeed. How do you prepare for winter? [Image Description: A marmot sits on a rock outcrop.]

During the fall, the weather in Glacier can be very unpredictable. Cold fronts can bring frigid temperatures and accumulating snow, especially in higher elevations. A storm forecasted to move into the area today has caused a temporary closure of Going-to-the-Sun Road at Avalanche Creek. ❄️ In order to protect yourself in these potentially dangerous conditions, it’s important to be prepared. Know the signs of hypothermia—when your body’s core temperature drops to a dangerous level. Symptoms of hypothermia include shivering, loss of coordination, and decreased circulation in hands and feet. This can lead to worsening symptoms, such as confusion, slurred speech, shallow breathing, drowsiness, and exhaustion. An easy way to recognize the signs of hypothermia is by remembering the “umbles”: does a person grumble, fumble, mumble, and stumble? To avoid hypothermia, bring extra layers, such as coats, hats, and gloves, and have sturdy, warm footwear while recreating in the park. Don’t forget to bring plenty of water as dehydration can still happen in the cold. 🧤🧣💧 [Image Description: Bundled hiker overlooking mountain scenery.]

Have you heard the story of “the bootleg lady of Glacier Park”?​ ​ In 2012, Glacier purchased 120 acres of land known as the Doody homestead, incorporating it into the park. From 1892 to 1931, this parcel was home to an infamous character in the region’s history – Josephine Doody.​ Josephine became known as a producer of high-quality moonshine, which she ran across the Middle Fork of the Flathead river to passing trains.​ ​ The remains of the homestead continue to reveal clues about Josephine’s story. In a 2018 survey of the site, historical archeologist Kelli Casias and other researchers found a previously undocumented agricultural field, possibly used for growing grain. This discovery could support a theory that Josephine increased alcohol production during Prohibition to capitalize on black market prices. ​ ​ Along with other historical and physical evidence, such as records of a federal raid on the property in 1928 and an early model tractor left behind, scientists like Casias hope to tell a more comprehensive story of the past.​ ​ “What we found in our survey,” says Casias, “is that the homestead is much more than just a setting for a story about a poacher and a bootlegger. It is a time capsule that holds the material remains of 40 years of Montana history. The site stands as a testament to how history was lived, rather than how it was made.” ​ ​ As stewards of Glacier National Park, it is up to all of us to preserve history of past peoples. Please leave any objects you find undisturbed, so they can remain part of their stories.​ ​ ​ ​

Who helped you learn to love nature? Rachel Carson once wrote “If a child is to keep alive his inborn sense of wonder, he needs the companionship of at least one adult who can share it, rediscovering with him the joy, excitement, and mystery of the world we live in.” As autumn takes hold in the wide valleys and craggy peaks of the million acres of Glacier National Park, the hillsides light up with the reds, yellows, and oranges of the huckleberries, aspens, and maples. Soon the mountains will be ablaze with the golden glow of the larch. It’s the perfect season to rekindle that childhood sense of wonder at the beauty and mystery of nature, or to introduce a love of the outdoors to a new generation. Preserving places for the enjoyment of future generations is central to the mission of the National Park Service, so that young visitors can experience a feeling of awe at the sublime grandeur of nature in the same way that their parents and grandparents did decades before. [Image description] The sun rises over a large valley dotted with yellow trees. This photo was taken on the traditional land of the Amskapi Piikuni, Kootenai, Selis, and Qlispe People in 2012. 📍

Is there an item you never leave home without? Leave No Trace Principle : Plan Ahead and Be Prepared! If you plan to visit Glacier National Park this fall, prepare for reduced services, increased wildlife activity, and cooler temperatures. If you’re planning to hike in the park, one way to prepare is by making sure your pack contains the 10 Essentials. You can adapt this list and each of the categories to fit the conditions you expect to encounter on your hike: Navigation 🗺 Nutrition 🥪 Hydration 🚰 Illumination 💡 First Aid ⛑ Repair kit 🛠 Sun protection 😎 Layers/warm clothing 🧤 Blanket or shelter ⛺ Fire starter 🔥 Bear spray is highly recommended, as bears forage during the fall season for up to 16 hours a day! 🐻 For the latest park conditions and more hiking tips, visit the park’s website: https://www.nps.gov/glac/planyourvisit/hikingthetrails.htm What’s one thing you make sure to bring on a hike? This photo of two hikers on a trail above Lake McDonald was taken on the traditional land of the Amskapi Piikuni, Kootenai, Selis, and Qlispe People. 📍

Do you have a favorite memory in Glacier that involves water? 💧 There are few better places to witness the beauty of water than Glacier National Park—and what a range of sights to see! On one trip, you could find yourself standing above the clouds, swimming in crystal-clear lakes, hiking to towering waterfalls, admiring water-carved canyons, and visiting alpine glaciers. Wait long enough, and you'll need snowshoes or skis to get around! In all of its forms, water is a powerful force that continues to shape the park we know today. How has it shaped your time in the park? Learn more about Glacier's aquatic (and terrestrial!) features on the park website. These photos of streams, clouds, lakes, waterfalls, snow, and glaciers were all taken on the traditional land of the Amskapi Piikuni, Kootenai, Selis, and Qlispe People. 📍

Change is in the air. As the leaves have been turning, park operations are also shifting. If you are planning to visit Glacier during the golden season of fall, bear in mind that services are limited. Apgar Visitor Center is now the only open visitor center. Now through October 25, rangers will staff outdoor information stations on Saturdays and Sundays from 9 am to 4 pm, weather permitting. As the nights get colder, water across the park is shut-off, and Apgar Visitor Center is the only place with running water. Most concessions have closed for the season and camping availability is limited to loop B of Apgar Campground, which is in primitive status (no running water). Currently, Going-to-the-Sun Road remains open as far as Rising Sun, but shifting weather can quickly close sections of the road. Going-to-the-Sun Road will remain open through Sunday, October 18, conditions permitting. Though services may be limited, there are still many places to explore in Glacier during the fall. What are you looking forward to most when visiting this fall? To learn more about visiting this fall, visit: https://www.nps.gov/glac/planyourvisit/fall.htm [Image description: a canopy of yellow aspen leaves beneath the blue sky.]

When you think of fall, what comes to mind? Maybe you imagine the leaves changing color, cooler temperatures, snow-dusted peaks, or perhaps you get excited for perfect sweater weather. 🍂🏔️🧣 In Glacier, animals have something else on their minds—food! 🍽️ With winter around the corner, fall is an especially active season for many species of wildlife, including bears. To prepare for hibernation, they need to consume thousands of excess calories. This phase of extreme eating before the cold sets in is called hyperphagia. Food grows increasingly scarce as winter approaches, so black and grizzly bears focus on eating as much food as they can including berries, nuts, and insects. With wildlife becoming more focused on looking for food, the chances of seeing wildlife go up! 👀 These wildlife viewing opportunities can make for a memorable trip, but it is important for the safety of both people and wildlife to keep a distance of at least 25 yards, and at least 100 yards (the length of a football field) from bears and wolves. It’s also recommended to carry bear spray, and know how to use it, when hiking in the park. For more information on staying safe while hiking in Glacier, check out the park’s website: 🐻https://www.nps.gov/glac/planyourvisit/bears.htm [Image description: black bear eating service berries.]

Mission 66 was a United States National Park Service program that was intended to dramatically expand visitor services by 1966, in time for the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the Park Service. At that time, the park's glaciers were, on average, 40% larger than they are today. The year 2066 will mark the 150th anniversary of the NPS. With that in mind, a recent MIT architecture graduate sketched out what a "Mission 2066" might look like for Glacier National Park. Though purely hypothetical–and not endorsed by Glacier National Park–the "Mission 2066" project does offer an opportunity to imagine the future. This illustration of an artificial glacier shows one dramatic and creative idea. "My thesis was on the design of National Parks in the age of climate change. In Mission 2066, park stewards take a more active role in maintaining the glacier population in the park... They deploy a series of interventions that augment and artificialize melting glaciers to assist their ecosystem through dramatic change." This concept looks at the park's future through the lens of architecture but there are many ways to envision the way forward. How might your expertise be used to shape Glacier for the next generation? Thanks for joining us this month for a conversation about the future of this place and what changes we can expect or hope to see. Although it’s the last day of month, we’ll continue to ponder these big questions and we hope you’ll keep thinking about them too! Photos courtesy of Angeline Jacques. Description: a model of ice flowing over the top of a modular structure with a plain background.

Have you ever looked in the mirror and noticed a new gray hair? Our bodies have ways of showing us changes, both large and small. On a larger scale, ecosystems function similarly. While the rivers of Glacier National Park are not exactly sprouting grey hairs, warmer temperatures are changing their appearance. Warmer streams seem to be increasing the spread of a type of freshwater algae named Didymosphenia geminata, commonly known as didymo, or “rock snot”. Why the unpleasant name, you ask? Didymo, although native to Glacier, can cause nuisance blooms that may inhibit the growth of other algae, change the appearance of rivers, decrease suitable habitat for spawning fish, and change stream chemistry. Pictured above growing on the riverbed, it also looks a little like snot! Scientists monitoring the growth of didymo in park streams seem to have found a parallel between warmer temperatures and increasing spread of didymo. This increased growth has been linked to warmer stream temperatures and earlier spring runoff from melting winter snowpack. Although didymo is a species of algae native to the area, its increased spread is an indicator of change. You can dye gray hairs, but you can’t stop aging. We can help decrease the spread of didymo by cleaning and inspecting watercraft and fishing gear, but unless we limit the causes of global warming, the park’s rivers will continue to change. This underwater image of a fish swimming among an algae bloom was taken on the traditional land of the Amskapi Piikuni, Kootenai, Selis, and Qlispe People. 📍

Have you ever climbed a mountain? If you have, you can probably remember tired legs, tremendous views, and extreme weather! No matter the time of year, summits are home to cold temperatures, strong winds, and sudden storms. ☃️💨🌩️ Monitoring this high-altitude environment is a tall order—Logan Pass, for example, has measured 139 mph wind gusts—but rugged alpine weather stations, like the USGS stations shown here, record conditions throughout the high country of the park year-round. Data from these weather stations help the park when plowing the Going-to-the-Sun Road, as they can help assess avalanche risk. But these weather stations are also monitoring a warming climate. Increasing temperatures aren't unique to alpine areas—after all, the global average temperature is rising. But alpine environments seem to be warming up faster than the global average. By looking at park historical temperature records (1895-2012), the average annual temperature in the park has increased at a rate nearly two times the global average. Above 6,000 feet, temperatures increased even faster, at a rate three times the global average. Possible explanations for the observed rate of warming include a loss of albedo. Albedo is the proportion of light/energy that is reflected by a surface, rather than absorbed by it. A decrease in alpine snow, which is highly reflective, may affect alpine environments. Through ongoing monitoring and research, scientists around the world hope to discover what's driving this increased rate of change—and to determine what these changes mean for the alpine areas themselves. Learn more about the park, alpine environments, and more by visiting the park website at the link in our bio. What do you hope to see in these alpine areas on a future visit? These photos of hikers and researchers on mountaintops and next to weather stations were taken on the traditional land of the Amskapi Piikuni, Kootenai, Selis, and Qlispe People. 📍

Much like how millions of snowflakes over time combine to make a glacier, together many small individual eco-friendly actions can have a significant impact. While visiting Glacier, you can join the park in its sustainable efforts by using reusable water bottle filling stations, recycling what you can and bringing home recyclable items that aren’t accepted here, and remembering your reusable bags. You can also join Glacier’s campaign to turn the key and be idle-free by switching off your engine during extended stops in parking areas, scenic viewpoints, pull offs, and traffic to reduce your carbon footprint. You can join Glacier’s effort by taking small steps while travelling and at home to reduce your own individual impacts and by encouraging more collective efforts. What are some ways you will be a steward of the planet on your next visit to Glacier National Park? [Image description: A park ranger fills up a blue water bottle at a water bottle filling station.]