Fresh flowers, towering trees, and bird songs all came together in one place to provide a unique experience completely different from daily life in the urban San Francisco Bay Area. Away from the constant drone of car engines and pile of books sitting on my desk, I learned to read and appreciate the landscape at Glacier National Park.
When I first arrived, I looked around me; all I noticed was the sheer number of trees, but I never really registered the diversity and richness of plants and wild life. I heard birds chirping, but they all blended into the same song. I saw stunning, vibrant flowers, but they seemed to differ only by their colors. Yet after only a week at the Master Naturalist program at the Glacier Institute, I was able to identify many of the trees unique to the park and classify families of flowers, but most of all I was able to practice the delicate art of bird identification. Now, I keep a bird journal in my free time with pictures and notes on the birds, and I hope to learn to bird by ear.
My experience was eye-opening, and I thank Glacier National Park for this precious opportunity I will cherish for a lifetime. Next time when I return to the park, I will touch the Continental Divide and soar above the tree lines, free like an alpine bird.
Sincerely,
Glacier National Park
Glacier National Park preserves more than a million acres of forests, alpine meadows and lakes with habitat for a wide variety of plant and animal life.
State(s): Montana
Established: 1910
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Greetings from Glacier National Park
Pristine glacial lakes, a boat dock, and an old cedar forest. This is Glacier National Park, a place that I’ve never set my foot on due to the pandemic. I took an online course from Glacier Institute and learned about how the landscape of the park came to be. I…
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