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| Hiking | 0.50 Miles |
160 AEG |
| | Hiking | 0.50 Miles | | | |
| 160 ft AEG | | | | |
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| no partners | | Day 2.5/ 4 GNP:
Went to McDonald lodge after 2 pm and parking lot is full. Took a little time to find a parking spot. Walked into a very busy lobby. Luckily was able to buy tickets for 3pm ranger led boat tour. Started the tour on DeSmet in lake McDonald, the largest lake in the park.Beautiful views all around . Some lucky people also own property around the lake. West side of the lake shows evidence of Roberts fire from 2003. Learned a lot about the usefullness of forest fires.
Lodge pole pine cones are sealed with hard wax. Can only open at high temps of 120F. Without fire, those seeds can not be released. Amazing to learn that these pines can not propagate without fires. Other trees have adopted to fires. Older ponderosa and western larch have thick bark that insulates from fire. Western larch looses needles but can regrow every year. Fireweed, lupines..etc do well after fire.now it makes sense to me as to why some seeds need to be scarified to sprout.  Huckleberry and serviceberry plants increase fruit production after fire. I used to see the word fire as negative. After this trip, I see it as a neutral word
So the park does not try to contain nature made fires as they see it as necessary for balance. If the fires are human made, then they try to contain them. Overall a wonderful trip.
PS: if Tibber or anyone sees that I am labeling the peaks incorrectly, please lmk and I will correct them. |
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Wildflowers Observation Moderate
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Route Editor
Route Scout
