Storm Mountain

Storm Mountain was named for the rain and snowstorms created as winds swirl around and rise above the mountains, building clouds. Vermilion Pass provides a vital low-elevation route through the mountains of the Continental Divide, and wild animals have long used these valley pathways to find seasonal food sources and new home ranges. People have also traveled these valley routes for thousands of years. Today many animals risk death when they travel along and across roads and railways, while others, such as lynx and wolverine, avoid busy highways altogether, limiting their ability to find new habitats and mates. A journal entry from August 16 recounts a hike to Stanley Glacier in Kootenay National Park by way of the Trans-Canada Highway, notes that fences and wildlife overpasses work pretty well but animals still appear on roads, and observes that the glacier is much smaller than it was a generation earlier, raising hope that glaciers and wildlife will still remain in the future.

Alberta · Canada