Angel Wing at McDonald Falls

To continue our trip into Glacier National Park I have to say something about the water. This is glacial water and , like all the lakes and rivers in Northwest Montana, there is something very special about the color of the water. I'm sure that when Lewis and Clark came West they didn't see the difference as much as we do now. The look of unpolluted water is different. It's so pristine that you can see further into it... clear, with a sparkle that stuns you when the sun is reflecting on it and the color.... a turquoise that I have never seen anywhere else. Because it's in a National park and protected... because it's close to it's source (the melting snow and glaciers of the mountain peaks) there is this amazing turquoise color that is so beautiful and intense that you might think, if you swam into it, that you would emerge with a turquoise tint on your skin.

We walked down to a bridge that crosses the McDonald River below the falls and, as we took pictures, I saw a movement on the log railing. This little butterfly had come to say hello. This is a Satyr butterfly of the Angel Wing family. They are named for the sharp. angular margins of their wings. The underside resembles dead leaves or bark for camouflage.

"D" took these photos when I reached over and put my hand underneath this little creature. It simply walked onto my fingers and showed off it's pretty wing for us. What a simple act of trust that was for one so small. It posed, walked on my hand for awhile and then flew to the other side of the bridge to meet someone else. I count this as our first, wild welcoming to the park.