Walkthrough of Glacier National Park - Lots of Locations and Pictures

jamesl

Hi All,

Having grown up in Montana, and currently living in Texas, Glacier National Park is one of my favorite places to visit and photograph. I've visited there at least ten times over the years, and the last six times I was there I had a camera with me. Over the past few months, I've been working to categorize and upload all of my Glacier National Park pictures from the past few years. I mainly did this so that I could share them with my family and friends, but I also wanted to give those folks who are going on the 2007 Shootout an idea of what they might expect (I can't make it this year ). My pictures are all taken during the summer time, but you can at least get an idea of the general lay of the land.

First off, I've put in smugmaps Google coordinates for most of my glacier pictures. You can see their exact location by going to my website at http://www.langfordphotograpy.com. It takes a few minutes for them to all load, but it will give you a very precise location of where the images were taken. In the next five postings, I'll break the park into sections: Lake McDonald, Logan's Pass, St Mary Lake, Many Glacier, and West Glacier. The pictures I will show are ones that can be shot from close to or nearby the roads that run through the park, so they are fairly easy locations to get to.

Here is the root of my Smugmug galleries for Glacier: http://www.langfordphotography.com/Glacier%20National%20Park%20Walkthrough

Here's a great map for the park. If you are going to visit, I recommend printing it out. http://www.nps.gov/archive/glac/maps/glaciermap.pdf

Unless otherwise noted, all pictures are taken with my Canon 10D. Most were with my Canon 20mm prime lens; with a small amount shot using my Canon 28-135 IS lens. Most were shot using a Polarizer (a must) and a tripod (very helpful for long exposures). I used my Sony F707 for some of these images, and that will be noted on the image. Any panoramas shown were shot with the camera in the Vertical orientation and were stitched using Panorama Factory. Any long exposure shots were probably captured using a 10 Stop B+W ND filter. Infrared images were shot using a long exposure and a Hoya R72 IR filter. Color balance for the IR images was achieved by using a custom White Balancer and swapping the Red and Blue channels in Photoshop. If you would like any more technical details about any image, please let me know.

The first part of the park I'll be covering is Lake McDonald.

jamesl

Lake McDonald Area
Most people visiting Glacier enter from West Glacier coming from Columbia Falls or Kalispell. When you cross into the park on this side, the first place you will run into is Apgar Village. This is where the Apgar Village lodge is located, and it also has a few shops and some excellent ice cream. But, that isn't why you are here, right? You're here for the pictures!

You can park in the main lot for Apgar Village and have an excellent view of Lake McDonald and the mountains at the northern end of the park:


(Shot with my Sony F707)

The lakeshore near the parking lot is an excellent location for sunrise pictures, as the mountains create some dramatic skies early in the morning:





It's also a great spot to shoot during the day:


(Shot with my Sony F707)

and for Infrared pictures, if you like to shoot that way:





The start of the Going to the Sun road is just East of Apgar Village. The first part of this road skirts the East side of Lake McDonald. There are many places to pull off and shoot along the road:



Several miles up the road is the Lake McDonald Lodge:


This is a must visit place, and is incredibly beautiful inside. It has one of the largest fireplaces I have ever seen. You can take a boat tour of the lake from behind the lodge (if it's running). Also behind the lodge are some neat photo opportunities.


(Shot with my Sony F707)





If you continue up the Going to the sun road just past the lodge, you will run into a parking area for the hikes to Avalanche Lake and Trail of the Cedars. I've never hiked the 3 miles to Avalanche Lake, but I've seen neat pictures of it. The Trail of the Cedars hike is only about 1 mile round trip. It has a very cool gorge at the end that is fun to photograph:



Just past the lake, the road will start running along McDonald Creek. There are a ton of places to pull off and take pictures or hike. Some of the large ones have some neat views of the creek. I chose to shoot infrared for these to capture the movement of the water:





From here on, the Going to the Sun road starts to climb towards Logan Pass, which is what the next post will cover.

jamesl

Logan's Pass Area
Logan's Pass is my favorite part of Glacier. The amazing vistas you can see while driving are unparalleled. There are many places to pull off while traveling over the pass. Most of these pull-offs have waterfalls that flow tons of water in the spring and summer, and make for excellent pictures. This road is very narrow, and is incredibly busy during peak times. Make sure you are well off the road before setting up your tripod.

Here are a few of the waterfalls that can be shot along the West side of the Going to the Sun road:


(Shot with my Sony F707)


(Shot with my Sony F707)




(Shot with my Sony F707)

About half way up the road on the West side is a pullover for Bird Woman Falls:





You'll also drive close by or under the Weeping Wall:



As you approach the top of the pass, you really get an idea of the scale of the West side of the park:




(Shot with my Sony F707)



At the top of Logan's Pass is a visitor's center. There is usually snow here, even in the middle of the summer, so dress accordingly.



This is another must visit location. The center itself is pretty cool, with maps and scale models of the park. You can also get some neat pictures from here. These were shot looking towards the East and St Mary Lake:





There are two trails that start here that I have been on. The first one is the Highline Trail. If you start at the visit center, the trail is an easy hike for the first few miles. It travels along the Garden Wall, and offers incredible views of the West side of the park. These pictures were captured within the first 1/2 mile of the hike:




(You can see in this image that the trail is pretty flat for quite some ways)

The other hike I have been on is to Hidden Lake. This is a 3 mile round trip hike that is moderately tough. There will probably be snow as well for the first bit:


This shot is about 1 mile along the trail, looking back towards the visitor center.

You also might run into some wild life:


At the end of the hike is an overlook of Hidden Lake. You can also continue on about 1/2 mile down to the lake.




The lighting here is tough during the middle of the day, which is when I was there.

After crossing over Logan's Pass, you'll start the trip down the other side towards St Mary Lake. There is a small turnoff just after you start over that offers a nice view of the East side of the pass:


(Shot with my Sony F707)


(Shot with my Sony F707)

The next area of the park I'll cover is St Mary Lake.

jamesl

St Mary Lake Area
St Mary Lake is a large lake on the East side of Glacier. It can be reached by either traveling the Going to the Sun road, or entering the park through East Glacier.

The times that I have visited the lake, it has been very windy:


This was shot from Sun Point, which is near the Eastern end of the lake (Sony F707).

There is a nice trail that starts at the Sun Point parking area and travels around the West side of the lake.




These two panos were captured just below the parking area for Sun Point.

At times, the trail will open up and give a view of the surrounding mountains:



There are three sets of falls that can be reached with about a 3 mile total round trip. The first set is called Baring Falls. It is usually very busy during peak times, as it is very close to the road:





After about a 1/2 mile hike to the West, you will hit St Mary Falls. There is a sturdy bridge right in the front of the falls, so it's easy to get nice pictures of it:


(Shot with my Sony F707)


(Shot with my Sony F707)

Finally, if you continue on you will hit Virginia Falls. This is my favorite fall of the bunch, but is tough to photograph due to the uneven lighting. If you got there early in the day, it would probably be much better:



Moving on from St Mary Lake is Many Glacier, which I'll cover next.

jamesl

Many Glacier Area
Many Glacier is in the North East corner of Glacier, near the Canadian border. The easiest way to reach Many Glacier is via the Going to the Sun road. If you are already in St Mary, you owe it to yourself to take the quick trip up to Many Glacier, as it is a beautiful area. The weather in this part of the park seems to change rapidly. You may go from windy and cloudy to clear sky in a matter of minutes.

The first place you'll reach as you head into the Many Glacier area is Lake Sherburne. The sky was overcast and it was very windy only a few minutes before I took this picture:




These pictures were taken near the East end of Lake Sherburne.

A bit further up the road you will run into a turn-off for Swiftcurrent Falls. These are very dramatic falls, but are tough to photograph from this side:


Shot with my Sony F707.

If you head on up to the Many Glacier lodge parking area, you can walk back to the falls and shoot them from the top looking east:


This was captured early in the morning as the sun was rising. The long exposure created the softness of the water.

If you park for lodge, you can have to walk up a hill to get to the lodge and lake. There is a nice overlook at the top of the hill:


Shot with my Sony F707

Just behind the lodge is Swiftcurrent Lake. There are many places to shoot the lake and the surrounding mountains and lodge.


This was captured from the North end of the lake as the sun was rising.


Taken from the same location during the early morning.

Infrared also works well:



The sunsets here can be incredible!




Both of these were captured from the shoreline behind the lodge.

Behind the lodge is a boat dock for tours:



You can take a boat tour across Swiftcurrent Lake, and then a short hike to another boat at Lake Josephine:



You can eventually hike up to Grinnell Lake and Glacier, which is supposed to be pretty demanding. I prefer the laziness of the boat trip. ;-)



Well, that is all for Many Glacier. The final part of Glacier I'll be covering is West Glacier.

jamesl

West Glacier Area
I've only been to the West side of Glacier one time. It is the least traveled part of the park. The roads are rough and rugged, and so is the landscape. However, it is very beautiful, and there are many photogenic locations.

The road to the West side starts out in the Apgar Village area. Most likely, the inner north fork road will be closed, and you will have to take the outer fork (the way I went).

The first 15 miles or so, you will see lots of evidence of the recent forest fires in the park. They can be pretty in the early morning light:



Eventually the road will cross over the north fork of the Flathead River. There is a large bridge where you can stop and take pictures:





Once your turn north at this bridge, the road turns to dirt and becomes much rougher. There are lots of neat meadows with views towards the East side of the park:





There are also a few small streams you will cross over:



If you stay on the road long enough, you will eventually reach Pole Bridge, a very small community. Make sure to stop at the little store and by some very overpriced beef jerky.

A bit further up the road is the turn off for Bowman Lake. It is a 6 mile drive that will feel like 50. You will cross the Flathead River again. You can again see forest fire damage here:



You'll probably see some wildlife along the way:



At the end of the road is Bowman Lake. Sunrise or sunset shots here would be awesome, but you'd have to camp to get them. During the day, the lighting is tough:





Well, that is the end of my little walkthrough of Glacier Park. I hope you've enjoyed the pictures, and have an idea of what kind of things you can see here. If you have any questions, feel free to post them here or to email me at langfords@tx.rr.com

jeff lapoint

James,

Wonderful travelogue! You have some absolutely stunning images here!thumb

-j

grimace

Wow!!

GREAPER

First rate post. You have me cranked up for the trip in the fall.

David_S85

Wonderful stuff, James. Thanks for the look ahead!

jamesl

Thanks All! Glad you enjoyed them. My family and I are visiting there in early July, and I've gotten very excited to go after putting all of my pictures together. Only a few more weeks to go!

Thanks for the kind words.

James

Andy

*mint*

aktse

You just made me so happy that I'm heading to the shootout!

ian408

You don't get up there often do you?

What a great place to visit.

dkoyanagi

:jawdrop
Fantastic!

Terrence

Thanks for the wonderful trip through the park and all the time you put in to writing those posts.

Lex

This place is on my list, if I ever get to travel to speak of. thanks for sharing. Very nice photo documentary of your trip. I like several out of this group!

Doug

nwilkins

Some stunning vistas, James. Hope all is well with you and your family!

ChrisJ

Great stuff! I hadn't seen many long exposure IR shots before, very nice.

jamesl

Thanks again, all of you, for your comments! They are appreciated.

Nancy! Good to see you! We are doing well. We now have 2 little girls, which doesn't leave much time for photography. But, my priorities are always my family first, photography second. We need to have another Dallas area get together. I miss all of the old gang. I still get emails from Jerry every once and a while, but that is it.

How was Utah? The pictures you all got were amazing. Looks like a great place to visit.

Take care,

James

Deano955

Wow, those are some of the best landscapes I've seen.

Very well done!

jamesl

Deano955 wrote:

Wow, those are some of the best landscapes I've seen.

Very well done!

Thanks Dean! I'm glad you enjoyed them. I just got back from 2 weeks in Montana, and spent a few days up in Glacier. I'll be posting up those images soon, I hope.

James

MooreDriven

Very nice shots James. I'll be heading to Yellowstone, the Grand Teton's and the Black Hills on Friday on the motorcycle. I won't have the luxury of hiking around the parks, but hope to capture a few similiar shots that you have of the beautiful landscape. Kudos for some nice work.

Dale

jamesl

MooreDriven wrote:

Very nice shots James. I'll be heading to Yellowstone, the Grand Teton's and the Black Hills on Friday on the motorcycle. I won't have the luxury of hiking around the parks, but hope to capture a few similiar shots that you have of the beautiful landscape. Kudos for some nice work.

Dale

Thanks Dale! The Tetons are probably my favorite place in the world. It's a toss up between there and Glacier. You will definately get some good shots. You just have to get up early for the sweet light. Good luck!

James

wxwax

This is wonderful! Thanks for this thread, great stuff and beautiful photography.

Panther

Howdy James,

What a wonderful journey you've led us on, spectacular images, both the color and the IR(The ol' 707 can still work it's magic I see) makes me want to make reservations tomorrow:D

Great to see your work again!!

Kindest Regards!

jamesl

wxwax wrote:

This is wonderful! Thanks for this thread, great stuff and beautiful photography.

You are welcome. Thanks for looking.

James

jamesl

Panther wrote:

Howdy James,

What a wonderful journey you've led us on, spectacular images, both the color and the IR(The ol' 707 can still work it's magic I see) makes me want to make reservations tomorrow:D

Great to see your work again!!

Kindest Regards!

Howdy Craig! Nice to see you still here. The old 707 still comes out of the bag at times. Mostly, it shoots IR now. You definately need to take a trip up to Glacier. It sure beats the heck out of Texas.

Nice hearing from you,

James

Hussain-Arts

thanx for sharing .. really nice