Travel-Glacier NP TB4

Please drop this item in rural OR Premium Member Only caches.  Do not place it in an urban cache or abandon it at a caching event.  Transport the bug in the original plastic bag for as long as the bag lasts; this prevents tangling with other items.  Otherwise, take this travel bug anywhere you wish.  No permission needed to leave the U.S. 

Travel bug photos included with the logs will be posted here. 

In the fall of 2015 my wife and I made a trip from Texas up through Wyoming, Montana, Alberta and British Columbia.  I am always on the lookout for something to convert into a travel bug.  This is one such item.

Glacier National Park is located in Montana, on the Canada–United States border with the Canadian provinces of Alberta and British Columbia.  The park encompasses over 1 million acres and includes parts of two mountain ranges over 130 named lakes, more than 1,000 different species of plants, and hundreds of species of animals.  This vast pristine ecosystem encompasses 16,000 square miles.

The region that became Glacier National Park was first inhabited by Native Americans. Upon the arrival of European explorers, it was dominated by the Blackfeet in the east and the Flathead in the western regions. Under pressure the Blackfoot ceded the mountainous parts of their treaty lands in 1895 to the federal government; it later became part of the park.  Soon after the establishment of the park on May 11, 1910, a number of hotels and chalets were constructed by the Great Northern Railway.  These historic hotels and chalets are listed as National Historic Landmarks and a total of 350 locations are on the National Register of Historic Places. By 1932 work was completed on the Going-to-the-Sun Road, later designated a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark, which provided greater accessibility for automobiles into the heart of the park.

Of the estimated 150 glaciers which existed in the park in the mid-19th century, only 25 active glaciers remained by 2010.   Scientists studying the glaciers in the park have estimated that all the glaciers may disappear by 2030 if the current climate patterns persist.

Large mammals such as the grizzly, moose, and mountain goat, as well as rare or endangered species like the wolverine and Canadian lynx, inhabit the park.  Hundreds of species of birds, more than a dozen fish species, and a few reptile and amphibian species have been documented.  The park has numerous ecosystems ranging from prairie to tundra.   Large forest fires are uncommon in the park but in 2003 over 13% of the park burned.

Glacier National Park borders Waterton Lakes National Park in Canada—the two parks are known as the Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park and were designated as the world's first International Peace Park in 1932.  Both parks were designated by the United Nations as Biosphere Reserves in 1976, and in 1995 as World Heritage sites.