My visit to my most favorite park of the National Park system (so far) started as an off the cuff conversation at a friends barbecue. Pretty soon, I found a trio of folks with whom to head to my 15th park on perhaps its most crowded day of the year. But because it was the early 2009, long before social media had drawn thousands of people to the great outdoors, the vast park never felt crowded.
I remember being awed by the breathtaking mountainscape around me as we drove along perhaps one of the most spectacular park roads in the nation. From above the low treeline rose towering snow-capped peaks that dropped down to graceful glacier-carved canyons draped in a lush green meadow filled with summer wildflowers. Every inch and every minute of hiking in this alpine terrain made me feel like I was in the Swiss Alps. And even though glaciers were few are far inbetween, the mark it has left on the landscape will forever enthrall park visitors and photographers alike.
With most of the mountains and valleys facing east, sunrises were always worthwhile to wake up for and shoot. I still remember one particular morning where a quick pre-dawn squall soaked all our gear, but left behind a spectacular landscape in glorious morning light. This is one take of the light on the east face of the continental divide.
Glacier National Park
MT USA
The calm before the storm
I stood on the shores of Lake Sherburne watching the awakening of Many glacier in Glacier National Park. A gentle morning light fell on the rugged Rockies lighting up the numerous glacier carved valleys. The still waters of Lake Sherburne reflected this tranquility while the delightful sounds of passerine birds enveloped the shoreline. I can still remember the pleasant scent of morning pine carried over by the calm breeze.
It lasted but for a fleeting few minutes. No sooner had I finished capturing this beautiful scene than I heard the loud clap of distant thunder. And within moments, the morning light was replaced by a raging thunderstorm. I had barely gotten back to my car when the clouds broke, and the calmness was broken by rain like I had never seen before.
With each passing year, my memories of this trip to Glacier National park over 10 years ago slowly fade away, but looking at photos of that day instantly transports me back to that wonderful sunrise, and leaves behind a yearning to go back once again to recreate this wonderful memory.
Glacier National Park
MT USA
Hayfield in Twilight
It was 9pm in eastern Montana. Miles and miles of nothingness stretched all around me. And piercing through it towards the western horizon was the long silvery snake of pavement. Interspersed between undulating hayfields and cattle ranches were tiny farmsteads and rolling hills, gradually leading to the snow-capped massif of the Rockies, the spine of the country.
I had a couple of hours of driving left, but the sun was already taking its last glance at the landscape all around me. But as the road rose above a small hill, the scene opened up, and I finally reached a vantage point that captured the essense of the pastoral scene so characteristic of eastern Montana. A tight crop with a telephoto lens captured the rolling landscape with bales of hay randomly scattered on the fields. At ISO 3200 and 1/80mm at F9, it was a noisy shot, but it did allow me to capture the colors well.
Great Falls
MT USA