Glacier National Park, September 2009

A selection of images from my trip to Glacier National Park, in September 2009. I stayed at four locations during the trip to try to maximize my coverage of the area - four nights at Rising Sun Lodge, two nights at The Prince of Wales hotel in Waterton, three nights at Many Glacier hotel, and a final two nights at Lake McDonald lodge. The images below are roughly presented in the order taken. Comments are welcome.

St. Mary's Lake By Moonlight (Click Image To Enlarge)

By pure dumb luck I timed my trip so that there was a full moon during my stay at the Rising Sun Lodge, just a mile or so from this popular view of St. Mary's lake. On my first morning in the park the sky was clear and the moon set about half an hour before dawn. Luckily I had gotten to the site a half hour early and was able to capture this shot. If I had been there a half hour earlier still, Wild Goose island would have been right in the middle of the strip of moonlight glinting off the lake, which would have been even better. On subsequent days there were clouds and the moon was obscurred.

Sunrise At St. Mary's Lake - Not Quite Peak Color (Click Image To Enlarge)

Believe it or not, the above shot was taken before sunrise color reached it's peak (see the next shot for peak color). This was taken on my last day at Rising Sun, and was the only real sunrise or sunset color I had with clouds in the sky (I had a lot of clear sky days where the peaks lit up and showed color, but without the clouds you just don't get the same drama IMHO).

Sunrise At St. Mary's Lake - At Peak Color (Click Image To Enlarge)

The above shot was taken as color reached its peak. I've seen better sunrise color in other people's shots, but after three mornings of getting skunked, I was thrilled to get what I got. Strangely, this was the only one of the four mornings I spent at Rising Sun where I had this spot to myself. The previous three days there had been a dozen or so other photographers present.

Looking Toward The Eastern Side Of Logan Pass (Click Image To Enlarge)

Glacier is just drop dead gorgeous. Everywhere you turn there's another scene like the one above. I was hoping for a few more clouds overhead, but it's a nice view no matter how you cut it.

Hidden Lake, Mt Reynolds (?), And Sperry Glacier To The Left (Click Image To Enlarge)

Above is the first view you get of Hidden Lake as you top the final rise on the Hidden Lake trail. This trail is a relatively easy three mile rountrip hike which starts at the Logan Pass visitor center and ends at a ridgetop overlook (the trail actually continues on down to Hidden Like, but most flatlanders like me stop at the overlook). Sperry glacier, the small patch of snow on the far left side of this shot, is really not much more than a small patch of snow. By 2030 at the latest, it's predicted that the last glacier in the park will melt away due to global warming.

Another View Of Hidden Lake From The Observation Platform (Click Image To Enlarge)

I couldn't decide which image of Hidden Lake I liked best, so I decided to show both. Hey, it's my web site =:-)

Highline Trail Traversing The Garden Wall Above Going-To-The-Sun Highway (Click Image To Enlarge)

The Highline Trail also starts at the Logan Pass visitor center. The above view from the trail is looking west, a few hundred yards from the trailhead. This first stretch of the trail is not for someone scared of heights.

Sunrift Gorge

Avalanche Gorge on the west side of the park gets all the Gorge press, but I really enjoyed photographing Sunrift Gorge on the eastern side of the park. It's located roughly halfway between Rising Sun Lodge and Logan Pass and is less than a hundred feet from the road. It doesn't get much easier than that.

Small Waterfall Near Sunrift Gorge (Click Image To Enlarge)

Just south of the road from the path leading to Sunrift Gorge is this little gem. It's the same creek that flows through the Gorge in the previous shot (don't know the creek's name). Like many places in Glacier, it has this nice mix of reddish and yellowish rocks that add that little extra kick to photos.

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I Still Have A Lot Of Glacier Shots To Process. I'll Be Adding New Shots As I Complete Them, So Check Back Later For The New Additions.