It's been a busy July. I've been traveling a bit and therefore have not kept up my usual blog updates. I've been up and down the Rocky Mountain Front a dozen times and from East Glacier to the pacific coast snapping photos and talking to people about this unique area in an effort to raise awareness and money for habitat protection and conservation efforts.
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| Summer Full Bloom along the Rocky Mountain Front, Montana. ©tonybynum.com |
My friend Will of Luna's restaurant in East Glacier Park, asked me if I'd like to "shoot" some dishes for him and I said "of course." I was able to photograph some pie, a salmon fish burger called, "grizzly bait" and a great looking chicken salad! Luna's has the best huckleberry pie in the region and before I could finish the shoot this one went down the hatch!
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| Yummy Huckleberry Pie from Luna's in East Glacier Park - I could not resist! ©tonybynum.com |
I've also started work on a long term project to document the development of the industrial oil complex on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation. It's part conservation photography, part documentary, part journalism, and part nature, and very much enjoy it. All of these projects are about people and the place we call, "the rocky mountain front."
More recently you may have heard that the, "Going to the Sun Road" also known simply as, "the sun road" "Logan pass," finally opened. The road is one of our nations treasures and the life-blood of our tourism based economy in Northwest Montana. 2011 was the latest the opening for the going to the sun road since its creation, due to heavy snow pack. Every year I try to be one of the first commoners on Logan Pass (employees get to be up there usually for several days before the public has a chance to visit, getting it ready for business). This year I was third. I followed two other vehicles up the 15 miles windy road from Saint Mary's, Montana. In classic Glacier Park - Logan Pass form - I pulled into the parking lot after driving the last 300 yards clutching the wheel, the fog was so thick I lost the vehicle in front of me. Once in the parking area I could see only a few painted stripes on the ground and no sign of the other vehicles. After about an hour the fog lifted and gave way to a snowy July winter like landscape. I hiked around a bit and departed about the time the lot began to fill up.
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| Logan Pass - Going to the Sun Road opening day 2011 - fog lifting ©tonybynum |
A couple days later, on Sunday, I returned with my girlfriend Stacy for a morning ski and to check the conditions for a shoot I have planned this week. The snow was hard and bumpy, but hey, where else can you go at this latitude and ski in the middle of July?
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| Skiing Logan Pass in July, Going to the Sun Mountain in the background. ©tonybynum.com |
Flower Update -
The flowers are late in most places - up to a couple weeks. Some areas are showing banner color while other's look less than average. Mostly I think some areas are just behind due to the long late winter we had. I'm expecting more color in the middle elevations over the next week, but right now I'd say the prairie at 4,000 feet has peaked! If you want to see flowers on Logan pass, bring your own, it's still under 10 feet of snow, it's going to be a while for sure.
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| Flowers in full bloom along the Rocky Mountain Front, Montana. ©tonybynum.com |
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| Sun setting along the Rocky Mountain Front, Montana. ©tonybynum.com |
Cheers!
Tony Bynum
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