Daily Nature Fix: The Most Incredible Creek.... Ever. (Original Photos)

Hello Steemit world and fellow nature buffs.  Today's daily nature fix is a pretty special one to me.  Glacier National Park is a phenomenal place and I could probably make a year's worth of DNF posts from it alone.... and the sight that I'm about to share is my favorite one from that trip.  In fact, it's among the top 3 of my favorite sights from all of my trips.  It is Avalanche Gorge/Avalanche Creek:

^^^100% untouched, unedited photo. ISO 500 | 98mm | ƒ/5.6 | 1/125  

      In my "Daily Nature Fix: Iceberg, Right Ahead!" blog, I disclosed my fetish for blue water.  It may very well be my favorite thing to see in nature.  Aside from the sky, blue is simply a color you don't see very often in the wild.  You don't see blue water anywhere in the northeast US, where I live.  I'm used to seeing blue ocean water in the tropics (which is still awesome), but not in the middle of the country like this.  Even more so have I never seen flowing blue water in a creek or river!

    Strangely enough, we found this site on a hike to Avalanche Lake and we hiked along the creek the whole time and didn't notice the blue coloration.  It wasn't until we were on our way back down from the lake that we spotted a deeper area of the creek that was the color of a public swimming pool... but we just could see a tiny bit of it.

^^^ Just a glimpse of the bright blue water in the gorge.  What a tease..

   I was pretty stoked to get a better look at this phenomenon, so I kinda double-timed it down the remainder of the trail.  After a couple hundred yards or so, I was able to get a better view of the area.

^^^Avalanche Creek.

    What a sight!  Aside from the blue water that I keep blathering about, the entire area was amazing.  A massive rock gorge covered with mosses and evergreens peppered in all over the place.  I was half expecting a bunch of Ewoks to pop out with spears.  It really was enchanting and made a deep impression on me.  I could see a bridge crossing the creek a bit farther down stream so I headed there for another view.

^^^To me, this is heaven on Earth.

    As an added bonus, at the same time I made it to the bridge to get a nicely centered view, the clock struck noon and that meant the sun right straight overhead and lit up the water incredibly well.  A lot of the bodies of water in Glacier National Park are some shade of blue, aqua, or turquoise.  A few factors play into their awesome appearance, like it being really cold and pure water.  A big one, however, is that a lot of the glacial and snowpack meltwater contains super finely ground bedrock called "glacial flour" and it gets suspended in the water and reflects the light all over the place.  The water absorbs all of the red wavelength light, leaving the blue spectrum for us to see.  

    Surprisingly, this is not a big attraction in the park at all.  I don't know why.  You will see Avalanche Lake on park maps though, so if you ever go to Glacier National Park, take a hike to the lake... but pay special attention to the creek on your way back!

     Thank you for reading! I post a nature-themed Daily Nature Fix blog every day, so make sure you follow me and see them all.  See you tomorrow.   - Adam

 
***Daily Nature Fix is a daily blog showcasing the natural world.  It is all original content using photos, stories, and experiences from my own travels.***