The air was dry and warm hitting my face as I crossed the Going-to-the-Sun road in a dusty S-10 pickup. My friend and I made the trek to the East side of Glacier National Park to see one of its most famous glaciers. What started out in a puttering tour boat continued on a thoroughly used trail to the glacier. A sign marking the glacier greeted us: "Here sits Grinnell Glacier." The only problem—no glacier.
Grey jagged rocks and a diminutive patch of snow were all that lay at our feet. As disappointment and confusion set in, I decided to walk on, resolved I’d soon find it.
Glacier National Park is on the verge of losing its heritage. By the year 2030 scientists predict all glaciers that remain in the park will be gone; victims of a changing global climate.
The implications of this retreat are far reaching both ecologically and for recreation.
The glaciers expand and recede, carving the landscape around them. As if painted by hand,the jagged peaks and bands of rock fold and curve creating a landscape unlike any other.
Nearly 3 million people visit this park every summer, which is located about eight hours from Seattle in Northwestern Montana.
In 1850 an estimated 150 glaciers existed inside the park, according the United States Geologic Survey (USGS). Today, that number has dwindled to less than 27. Between 1850 and 1979, nearly 73 percent of the ice melted. The glaciers that remain are steadily declining in size, and are but small puddles of their former glory.
I eventually found what remained of Grinnell Glacier on that day in August. Squinting at the glare that bounced off the surface, I was able to take in the blue and white cracks and crevasses. The sound of trickling water filled the air as the melting ice fed the streams below, where a small lake was forming.
Andy Bach, a geologist at Western Washington University, said glaciers are now supplying lowland stream flow.
In Glacier National Park this means hikers will have a harder time finding fresh water at higher elevations.
Backpacking to Fifty Mountain, one of the park’s more remote spots, I encountered this very problem. All streams had run dry; no water source meant a parched throat for a few miles until I was able to reach a lower elevation.
Grinnell once covered 722 acres, twice the size of Western’s campus. Today it has dwindled to less than a third of that, and wouldn’t even begin to cover the campus.
As the ice recedes at Glacier National Park, forests are able to survive at higher elevations. Alpine species of vegetation and conifers grow in areas where there was previously no vegetation. A climate model by Daniel Farge of the USGS predicts coniferous forests will crest the highest peaks by the year 2100.
These changing forests are forcing many of the parks animals to leave their homes. The North American Pika, Wolverine and Marmot are being pushed to higher elevations, as advancing forests take over their normal rocky habitats, according to the park’s Web site. Each animal faces an uncertain future.
Scientists are still uncertain to what degree glacier disappearance will impact animals, recreation, and geology. Changes are imminent though, as anyone visiting Glacier National Park will see.
As I sat at Grinnell for nearly an hour in the hot sun, I realized I was looking at something my generation would be the last to enjoy. I wanted to know what Grinnell was like in its former glory. Instead, the remaining ice is dwarfed by the now visible barren rock surrounding it.
Jumping into the melt water seemed fitting. A place once covered by ice is now a swimming hole hikers use to cool off. It was clear while I was swimming in what used to be glacial ice that the change isn’t coming. It’s here.