Grasshopper Glacier (Montana)
Known to travel in swarms numbering in the trillions in some years, it is believed that the grasshoppers found in the glacier may have been caught in severe storms and perished. Until the late 20th century, the grasshopper remains were quite common; however, lower snowfall rates since the late 1980s and higher temperatures have contributed to a higher melting rate of the glacier and many specimens decompose before they can be retrieved.
Access to the glacier is difficult due to poor weather conditions and the requirement to travel via off road vehicle and then hike on foot several miles to the base of the glacier. The road is impassable for up to 10 months of the year. The Beartooth Highway (U.S. 212) is one of the closest access roads. Two smaller glaciers in the immediate region also have the same species of grasshoppers entombed in their ice; one is also named Grasshopper Glacier, the other simply Hopper Glacier. Other glaciers also bear the name for the same reason, including one in the Crazy Mountains north/northwest of the Beartooths, and Grasshopper Glacier in the Shoshone National Forest in Wyoming.
See also
References
- ^ "Grasshopper Glacier". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior. Retrieved February 9, 2013.
- ^ Little Park Mountain, MT (Map). TopoQwest (United States Geological Survey Maps). Retrieved February 9, 2013.
- ^ Lockwood, Jeffrey (February 3, 2003). "The death of the Super Hopper". High Country News. Retrieved February 9, 2013.