Third in my series of pendants inspired by our National Parks is this purple one inspired by the Silky Phacelia wildflower. It's a wildflower that many never see as it only grows above 7000 feet where the temperatures get cold enough to germinate the seeds. Although I wasn't lucky enough to see one in person, they can be found at Glacier.
Silky Phacelia photo in public domain, National Park Service
Glacier National Park is special not only for its geology and glaciers, but also because it is the world's first International Peace Park: Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park, along with Waterton Lakes National Park in Canada. It was established in 1910, our 10th National Park. The Going to the Sun road is not for the faint of heart, but it is heralded as one of the best mountain roads. It marries nature with man with as small a footprint as they could manage. I am not good with heights so I have to look uphill when we're on the edge.
There used to be a fabulous jewelry makers' retreat in Milwaukee I'd attend that I'd take on Amtrak from our home in Idaho. The highlight of that train ride was going through part of the park by rail. Every time we passed the remote Many Glacier Hotel I wished I had a room and could disembark for a bit. It was built by the Great Northern Railway which built all the lodges in the Park. The history of it is fascinating and you can read about it here.
Sadly due to climate change the park is warming at twice the rate of the global average and its iconic glaciers are projected to completely melt by the end of the 21st century.
The sheer magnitude of these mountains is difficult to capture in a photo and in fact difficult in person unless you have a reference point. Just another breathtaking awe inspiring place we must protect for future generations.
“Walk away quietly in any direction and taste the freedom of the mountaineer. Camp out among the grasses and gentians of glacial meadows, in craggy garden nooks full of nature’s darlings. Climb the mountains and get their good tidings, Nature’s peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you and the storms their energy, while cares will drop off like autumn leaves. As age comes on, one source of enjoyment after another is closed, but nature’s sources never fail.”
John Muir; Scottish-American naturalist, environmental philosopher, conservationist, and author known as “Father of the National Parks”