Apgar Mountain Webcam
August 30, 2008
It's a two blog day. Someone moved the Apgar Mountain Webcam again. It's offline until we can fix it. I've already had a couple emails commenting on the situation and hoping we will allow the new view to replace the old one. We aren't, and here is my reply to one person explaining why. Hopefully after reading it you will have a better understanding of what we are trying to accomplish up on Apgar Mountain and what we hope can be the future plans up there.

Laurel

We had a long debate here in the park about whether to place a cam in the backcountry or not. There are a couple of other locations were we have considered cams and rejected them as well. The big issue has to do with visitor expectations while in the backcountry. We don't feel it's appropriate to place a camera in a location where visitors who take the effort to hike to the top of the mountains are then placed in a situation where they will be seen online, even if they don't know it. I'd hazard a guess that most of the visitors up there don't know there is a webcam.

Our compromise was to place the camera in a location where it would not show the main area that visitors use to enjoy the view. Due to the terrain up on Apgar Mountain people needed to make a definite effort to be in the webcam. Occasionally I would see people in the view and every time they either had a cell phone calling someone or were doing something else that made it obvious they knew about the cam.

Our other reason for placing the camera were it was, was to provide a view of the North Fork area of the park. It's a special part of the park that has a completely different character than the big mountains and big lakes seen everywhere else. It has been the scene of many forest fires over the last couple of decades and the opportunity to see that panorama all at once is unique. Also, we already had a view of Lake McDonald from the shoreline.

I'm not going to disagree that the view of the lake is spectacular from there. If we could provide that without impacting visitors I would do it. In fact we had plans to place an additional camera up on the tower high enough so that we could offer both views, without showing hikers without their knowledge. It's on the list of things to do. I'm concerned now however about even having webcams in areas where they are so prone to tampering. This is not the first time this has happened to the Apgar Cam. When we get an opportunity to hike back up there and readjust the camera and check for damage we will return it.

I hope this helps explain our reasoning behind the placement of this particular camera.

Bill Hayden

August 30, 2008
What a Great Summer
Well here it is Labor Day Weekend and we're looking back on a very fast and furious summer season here in the park. Where did it go? I never get out as much as I'd like, but I managed to do some of my favorite hikes again and basically enjoy the amazing weather that we had this summer. After the last few years of blistering high temperatures and smoke from forest fires hanging in the air, this was a treat. It never really got too hot. We had a few days of rain to keep everything green, and only a couple days of smokey skies.

It was on one of those smokey days that I hiked to my favorite spot...Iceberg Lake, but we all had a great time anyway. In fact what I remember about that hike the most is how much fun everyone seemed to be having. We met dozens of other hikers (this is not the trail for solitude) of all ages and everyone had these giant smiles on their faces.

Since this is a trail that seems to have a high degree of bear sightings I decided to ask people if they would show me how they make themselves known to bears on the trail and let me film it. Surprisingly no one turned me down. :-) This little video clip is some of what I filmed that day. Thanks to all the participants...you made my day!

Everyone on the trail was obviously having a great time, but the subject of making noise on the trail is real and important. Bears are big powerful animals and they spend the majority of the summer feeding. Here in Glacier they feed mostly on vegetation and berries...especially huckleberries when they are ripe. People hiking in the park really do need to make some noise while they on the trails. It's not to scare the bears away (although it's great when they turn trail and leave) but mostly it's to just let them know you are coming. A surprised bear will react in a variety of different ways. Sometimes they run, sometimes they bluff charge, and sometimes they attack. If you can let bears know you are coming there is much less of a change you will surprise them and they will have time to react to your presence.

Be safe out on the trails. I can't vouch for all the methods in the video. I made sure to tell the kids with the little electronic machine to also yell and talk. The human voice seems to be about as good as anything in letting bears know a person is coming.

Make Noise, Be Safe, and (like the people in the video) Have FUN!!!

August 22, 2008
More Changes to the Webcams!
Regular visitors to the webcam pages will notice a couple of changes to the layout. It's just part of the ongoing saga of fitting webcams in with the new design of the site.

Glacier is one of the few parks with webcams and I think we probably have more than any other park. The web gurus in DC authored a feature element for the new websites that allowed us to include a pop-up window that continually refreshes as new images are uploaded. It works pretty slick...when it works! I offered to try it out and test if for them when it first came out. Over the last few months the server that we had been hosting our images on back in the DC office was experiencing...well let's just say there were issues with it. It was not reliable, especially on weekends. Our guidance from back east was to use a different server that was the one hosting most of the other web content. We made that switch last Monday. It's much faster delivering content and so all looked to be fine. Well it is computers and technology and stuff after all and there turned out to be a glitch. The pop-up windows opened fine and the image came in quickly, but it would not refresh. I don't now why and I don't think anyone else does at the present time either. It's been reported but I don't know where in the list my problem is. In any case it hasn't worked for a week so I constructed a work-around. The links for the four main cams now pull up a window that does refresh every minute. If you want to compare that to the other system, look at the HQ or Goat Haunt Cams. I'll fix those next week. When the original feature is fixed we might need to move back to that, but in the mean time I think this will work.....whewww! I told you it wa a saga.

August 18, 2008
Suggestions!
I get lots of suggestions for the webcams. Everyone LOVES the webcams.
Well most everyone! :-)
Recently a few of the suggestions have been more...strongly worded. It just proves that there are people out there that are passionate about the cams and want them to be the best they can be. We do too and all suggestions are helpful.

Let me try to address the two top comments here.

The Red Float at Lake McDonald
When our cameras that communicated with the system via modem were effected by new network security last fall, we lost the ability to get the images from those cams...specifically Many Glacier and Lake McDonald. The only solution for Lake McDonald was to move down the lake to the boat rental building. It was located close enough so that a line from our network could be buried out to it. Once that happened we were able to provide a great view of the lake once more. That view also contains a float used (in the summer) to moor the chase boat that Glacier Park Boat Co. uses in emergency situations. It's anchored to the bottom of the lake and can't be removed each winter, so it's in the view year-round. We have two choices. Enjoy the view that we currently have or...well frankly, turn off the cam. Obviously I'm not going to turn it off. There isn't another location on the lakeshore that will work with our system. So that's the story there. Most people love that view, but I understand why some don't. There isn't a solution for them however.

Many Glacier Webcam :-(
I can't tell you how disappointed we all were when this cam went offline. Many Glacier is an amazing place. I worked my first five summers in Glacier there. Under the current set of circumstances (see modem info above) we just can't return that cam to service. We have investigated other options but for the time being it remains offline. If we can find a way to work some magic there and get it back on...trust me we will. It's high on our list of issues with the cams to fix. So for all of you that have written asking for this cam to return all I can say is we hope it will some day also.

So that's some of what's happening here with the cams. There are plans to improve a couple of the existing ones and we have plans to install another one or two if we can. Thanks for all the kind words about the cams. Every day I get messages about how much they are enjoyed. It's a nice way to start the day. Here is a very typical email that came in over the weekend.

"Thank you so much for providing us with the webcams. I visited Glacier and Waterton almost twenty years ago and I think it's the most beautiful place on Earth. Visiting your webcams takes me back there again, until I can return in person."

That's exactly what we hoped would happen!

August 17, 2008
Those Rotten Webcams!!!
Well I'm sure most of you have noticed that the webcams were/are on the blink again this past weekend. We had a power outage here at Headquarters in the afternoon that might have contributed to that, but the cams seem to have gone offline earlier in the day. Just now I have manually moved the current images to the server in DC so at least you can see that the park is still here and it's a great day in the park. Actually it's really hot today. We might set a new record and just to the west of here in Kalispell they may hit the century mark!

So anyway back to the cams. It's not the cams that are malfunctioning, it's our ability to move those images to the servers in DC. Sometimes it's because of something on that end and sometimes it's our task server here that needs to be rebooted. If I had to guess I'd say this time the problem is on this end. When the IT (Information Technology...the computer guys) guys get in on Monday I'll see if they can get us back in gear. I hope to be able to move to the more reliable server in DC early this week also. That won't prevent our problems here, but will cut down on the ones we have no control over.

So Bill...why don't you just go reboot the server? Well I can't. I don't have access to the server room. I'm the front end guy for the web and that's one of the backend features. Sorry about that!

Webcam Update Tuesday, August 12, 2008
The Webcams are moving!
Over the next couple of weeks we will be moving the webcams to a different server in DC. Hopefully this will prevent the frequent outages that have been occurring lately. Most people will not notice the difference. If you have the image file bookmarked however, you will need to re-establish those links, once we move the image to its new home. The address of this page will remain unchanged and you can still access the webcams from here like always.

August 8, 2008
Waterfalls and the Grin Factor
I've always been fascinated by waterfalls and moving water. I remember dragging mom and dad over to every public fountain I found when we visited big cities, and on my first trip to Yosemite they nearly had to drag me away from Bridalveil Falls. Here in Glacier we have a lot of impressive waterfalls and I'm always happy when I hike past a rushing stream with even the tiniest of waterfalls to stop at. They make me smile...and there is actually some scientific data that might explain it.

Moving water generates negative ions and an increase of negative ions in the bloodstream is thought to increase the levels of the mood chemical seratonin which boosts energy and helps relieve stress. Google "waterfalls, negative ions" and check it out.

One of my favorite little waterfalls is one very few people see and it's only about 500 feet from the parking lot. At the Iceberg/Ptarmigan Trailhead (in the Many Glacier valley) instead of turning right and heading up the trail to Iceberg Lake, turn left and walk for about 500 feet. You'll discover a nice bridge over Wilbur Creek and a very pleasant little waterfall, just perfect for a short family walk. You'll probably have the whole place to yourself, I've rarely seen anyone else there. It's just one of the little secret spots that you discover after you spend some time here in Glacier.

2.5Mb QuickTime file of Wilbur Falls
1.8Mb Windows Media File of Wilbur Falls

Remember to always use caution around waterfalls and running water. Rocks are often covered with slippery algae, and fast moving water can be very dangerous. We want you to keep "grinning" around the water and not have any problems.

August 7, 2008
Hello and welcome to my Glacier Blog!
I guess I should start by introducing myself and giving you a little background about what I do here at the park. I am the park's Interpretive Specialist and am responsible for much of the media (publications, exhibits, etc...) that you see here in the park.

I've been fortunate enough to live and work in Glacier since the spring of 1990 and...as you can imagine...have seen a few changes since then, one of the biggest being the explosion of electronic media and our ability to connect with visitors around the world, not just here in the park. Now instead of just publications and exhibits locally, we can communicate with people though podcasts, the website, and a host of other electronic means. It's fun and exciting stuff and I'm proud to help Glacier be one of the parks leading the charge into the 21st Century.

Check back here often for information on what's happening with our media efforts as well as commentary on some of my favorite places to visit here in the "Crown of the Continent!"

You can email me here:

Bill Hayden

Due to the volume of email I get I can't respond to all of them, but I do read them all and consider any and all suggestions for improvements to the cam system.