With 2020 being a “work from home” kind of year, I had a chance to work from a different home in Northwest Montana for much of the summer and fall. Being close to Glacier National Park, I was able to photograph several areas of the park through the change of the seasons. Here a a few images from the western side of the park.
Avalanche Creek
A very photogenic stretch of Avalanche creek is easily reached from the popular Trail of the Cedars on the western side of the park. The creek runs through a narrow gorge providing a lot of nice colors and shapes for photographs. I first visited this area early in the morning at the beginning of September. Being there early allowed me to find a parking spot at the popular trailhead, while also giving me the nice soft light I wanted for my photographs. Smaller crowds are good for social distancing too.
I returned to the area after a snowstorm in the middle of November. I captured the image at the top of this post a little further up the trail, above the gorge. I took the image below from a location close to where I had taken the summer image. I couldn’t quite get to the same spot due to the hazardous conditions with the snow and ice.
Lake McDonald
Lake McDonald is easily reached from the West Glacier entrance to the park and provides a stunning view of the mountains further into the park. Mornings tend to be calmer with better reflections in the water and the sun rising behind the mountains. The last light of sunset adds light to the mountains and any clouds, making that a great time to visit as well. I captured the image below during an autumn sunset. There are trees along the lakeshore that added some colorful leaves to the foreground and I had some nice clouds as well.
Looking to the right from the above image, I also liked this scene of the fall colors along shoreline reflecting in the water.
I went back to Lake McDonald after a snowstorm in late October. The water was too rough for any reflections, but I really liked the line of ice along the shoreline.
The image below looked along the shoreline back toward the trees I had photographed above. This time I zoomed out to get more of the shoreline as well as the snow covered mountain. There was still some fall colors on the trees.
Sacred Dancing Cascade
I hiked along McDonald Creek a few times during my visit. Each time, I stopped at the Sacred Dancing Cascade for a few photos. When I was there in the summer, I worked my way down to the water so I could pick up the details in the falls. This was a late-afternoon image.
I tried to do the same thing after a snowfall in November, but wasn’t comfortable rock-hopping around snow and ice. I ended up really liking the view from the bridge, catching some of the sunset light in the background.
