Glacier National Park Chat

A sad accident at Lake McDonald.

Does anyone know what the submerged artifacts are which attracts divers to this location? I have never heard of them before.

https://flatheadbeacon.com/2020/11/02/m ... -accident/

llholmes1948 wrote: ↑Tue Nov 03, 2020 8:36 am A sad accident at Lake McDonald.

Does anyone know what the submerged artifacts are which attracts divers to this location? I have never heard of them before.

https://flatheadbeacon.com/2020/11/02/m ... -accident/

Wow, I was on the dock around noon time on Nov1. There were a couple locals fishing. I told them about some divers I talked to a couple winters ago.
They were diving in a deep spot out in the lake from the dock. All they mentioned were seeing some HUGE lake trout in the deep spots, said nothing about "artifacts".
The water was beautiful and crystal clear. I wonder why they started so late in the day? Starting to get dark now by 4:00PM.

pete

llholmes,

Here is an article on types of archaeological finds in Glacier NP:
https://www.nps.gov/glac/learn/historyc ... ources.htm

Apparently there is a submerged forest under Lake McDonald.

Photo of a scuba diver in the forest from Glacier's FB page:
[url][

I imagine there could be some items lost overboard (and skis from spring skiers who misjudged the thickness of the ice), but it's also possible that "artifacts" and "underwater forest" were conflated somehow. Maybe the divers were just going down for a look-see.

The woman was part of a scuba diving group of six people who started their dive near the dock of Lake McDonald Lodge around 4 p.m. At the time of the incident, bystanders drove to Apgar Village for a cell signal to call 911. Kalispell Regional Healthcare’s A.L.E.R.T. was first on the scene, about 30 minutes after the initial 911 call.

from the article.

I'd love to know why they started their dive so late in the day. Yes, the water is crystal clear, but what would they be looking at in deep water in near darkness?
At 4PM it's already getting close to dark as you see if you look at my photos in the photo section I'll post later.
By 5PM it is dark for all practical purposes.
Any ideas or guesses?

pete

At this point in the year, I'd say they're diving with lights unless they only gong down 10-20 feet. Also, some people want to do a "night dive." That said, everything is easier in daylight. Sure hope they had drysuits, but when I see young age, I doubt it. I froze my ass off in a spring dive in Lake Superior. It took me hours to warm up and I was wearing a "shorty" in addition to a full wet suit.

Jay