More Markers Donated
It’s sometimes difficult for people to grasp the size and depth of Glacial Lake Missoula from written explanations and drawings, so several years ago the Missoula chapter of the Ice Age Floods Institute placed large engraved stone markers along four popular hiking trails on the mountainsides near town. The stones marked the highest level of Glacial Lake Missoula and looking across the valley from those points, the magnitude of the flooding events could be more easily understood, especially if there was a temperature inversion and clouds filled the valley as water had done more than once 13,000 years ago and even before that.
The chapter then placed a stone near Lake Como, which also marked the approximate southern extent of floodwaters up the Bitterroot Valley, and about 70 miles from Missoula. More markers were planned for rest stops along the Interstate and in the Clearwater Valley near Ovando. But only six stones had originally been chosen, engraved, and stored for further use.
Thankfully, Knife River Construction has donated an additional six large rocks, and Garden City Monument has done the engraving at low cost to make these rocks ready for placement in other locations. The Bureau of Land Management arranged for storage until additional sites can be prepared. These rocks each weigh about 300-400 lbs, and are reinforced with rebar and set in concrete to secure them in place, so getting them placed is no easy matter. The marker rocks are not erratics and are not necessarily indicative the rock types originally found at these location, but they do get attention, which helps tell our amazing story. Some folks make it a goal to get to all of them.