ICEBEKG LAKE. 



BY O. W. FREiBMAN. 



Iceberg Lake is located in Glacier National Park, Montana, about 

 six miles from Many Glacier Camp on Lake McDermott, and is one 

 of the most interesting- points to visit in the Park. The chalet camp 

 at Lake McDermott is about fifty miles from Glacier Park station 

 and is reached by automobile and stage from there, the good roads 

 and excellent views of lakes and mountains making the journey a 

 pleasant one. Iceberg Lake itself may be reached from Lake Mc- 

 Dermott over an interesting mountain trail Avith close views of 

 many small cascades and waterfalls. On the way, a typical glacial 

 eroded U-shaped valley is traversed, showing that thousands of 

 years ago a mighty glacier, of which that at Iceberg Lake is a small 

 remnant, had occupied the whole valley. This joined others from 

 Swiftcurrent. Grinnell and other places forming the Saint Mary 

 Glacier which extended north to Canada where it met the Keewatin 

 continental ice sheet. Iceberg Lake is an unique occurence in this 

 country and hence there is added interest to what would naturally 

 be well worth visiting. 



The lake lies in a characteristic glacial cirque, occupying a basin 

 apparently chiefly formed by glacial gouging. It lies on the north 

 side of Wilbur Mountain and just east of the Continental Divide, 

 at an altitude of 6100 feet. On three sides cliffs tower to a height 

 of over three thousand feet above the level of the lake (PI. I) and 

 it naturally forms one of the most impressive and beautiful scenes 

 in the Park. Due to its location in such a deep pocket on the north 

 side of Wilbur Mountain, the sun melts only a small part of the 

 accumulated snow and ice. To the heavy snow fall is added that 

 blown in by the winds, and by alternate thawing and freezing com- 

 bined with the pressure of the snow above, the snow is gradually 

 consolidated to ice forming a small glacier. This remnant of a 

 once vastly greater one is at the head of the cirque and descends 

 into the west side of Iceberg Lake. The glacier is easy of approach 

 along the north side of the lake by crossing a talus slope and small 

 moraine. Its surface is dirty with debris; many rocks can be seen 

 that have fallen from the cliffs above and which are entirely un- 

 worn bv erosion. Besides manv crevasses near the front of the 



