Spring time in Glacier National Park

Glacier National Park is coming alive. I can still see twilight over the mountains at 10PM!  Yeah . . .  By the end of the week I expect to see some balsam blooming.  Already the lower ground flowers carpeting the lithosols are blooming!

Flowers bloom on a well drained lithosol. Glacier National Park in the Background. Nikon d700, 17-35 afs, f16.
© tonybynum.com All Rights Reserved. 

People are beginning to show up, some tourists, but mostly workers. This past weekend things really started buzzing around East Glacier Park, but deeper into the park, you'd think no one knew about the place, it's deserted, well, almost . . .

A cow moose and her calf from last year cross the Many Glacier Road in Glacier National Park, Montana. Nikon d4, 70-200 afs vr lens. © tonybynum.com, all rights reserved. 

Bull moose eating new buds, Glacier National Park.
Nikon d4, 200-400afs VRII @ f5, iso 400.
© tonybynum.com All rights reserved.

I love this time of year. By our standards it's spring, by most other's it's still winter, but spring in Glacier National Park is all about change and life!  New life springs up around every corner. Plants begin to reach for the sky, animals feed more comfortably on green food. Moose and elk are growing new antlers and grizzly bear cubs sharpen their skills! It's a all about life! Life happens to us, not for us!  Go live it!

For those that care, I mean really care about this place, consider calling your congressman and tell them to vote no on HB 1505!

If you've still not checked in with my facebook page, please do, you still have time to win the glacier park book, "the first 100 years," and my signed print of the cover photo. Gt to Tony Bynum Photography's facebook page and check it out!

Cheers!

Glacier National Park, fall's over already?

Thank you for participating in my recent poll. Since the results are split I guess people just want to know more about everything. . . how refreshing. I'm happy to learn that people are interested in all sorts of wonderful things. This means I'll have plenty of subject matter to guide my posts this winter, I just have to keep up with the updates!  In this post I'll tell you a little about what I've been up to, list some shooting data for the images in the post, and I'll share with you the secret to becoming a better photographer.

Before I get to the secret, I'll mention that since I last posed I've traveled thousands of miles across Montana and Alberta Canada and shot everything from elk to frogs and even a few dead animals on the highway and a huge mound of bear scat - gota keep building the stock! This fall's colors were some of the best I can remember. Color abounded. I did notice that most places peaked a bit early this year, as compared to historical peaks. I cant explain this, can you?

More recently, Saturday I think it was, my friend Stacy and I took a trip into Glacier Park and found, 5 grizzly bears, about 50 goats, 150 bighorn sheep, a few moose, some whitetail and mule deer, a mink, lots of birds including a group of 20 gray and stellar's jays, some swans, and some people -- actually lots of people for this time of year. It seems that every year more people play longer in the park. This brings me to the latest news from today.  Here's an image from that trip.

Bull moose feeding on willow branches.  Nikon d300 and Nikon 70-200 2.8 VR af-s, f5 @ 125th hand held @ 200mm (digital equivalent: 300mm).  

And how about a short video of two of the five grizzlies I saw.  Checkout the color of that cub!

And before the day was over, we managed after searching for what seemed like hours to find a few bighorn sheep.  These boys are getting ready for the rut later in November.  Thank my lovely assistant Stacy for filming this segment.

I went to take a stroll up around two medicine lake but the road was closed. I suspect that the forecast for possible snow caused the park service to lock the gates even before there was snow on the road. It use to be that the road stayed open until the snow closed it. Not anymore, anyone care to share with the rest of us why they close the road when it' bare?

Two Medicine Road at Park Boundary - CLOSED!  Nikon d700 24-120 af-s, VR II lens, f11 @ 160th

As you can tell, I'm a little disappointed by this as this is the time of year I like to get out into the Park and with the roads closed it's difficult to go in very far in a day.  Oh well, maybe they will reopen them before the years out . . .

With all the leaves gone and the snow just starting to fall, I guess fall really is over.  I'm looking forward to seeing what the next few weeks will bring!  Fall and early winter are my favorite times of the year.  The light is good all day, the animals are still active and chasing down the last of the seasons green vegetation and the air is cool, crisp and cold!

And now for the secret to how to be a successful outdoor, nature and wildlife photographer.  GET OUT OF BED! That's it, that's the secret.  I'm convinced that it is the single most important thing you can do if you want to make something of your photographic efforts.  You have to get up and be in the correct location when the light gets good.

For me that's easy, or at lest it has been for the past 40 years.  I love to get up early.  My mother told me that even before I was out of the crib I was waking up at 5 and sometimes 4am.  She said I'd stand in my crib with a loud smile ready to get up and get the day going.  I still like to get up early and have a burning desire to see the sunrise every day.  While I'm not a huge fan of silhouettes, I do believe this one of a massive bugling bull elk is a once in a lifetime image that's worthy of anyones archives, but more importantly and to the point, it's an example of what's possible when you get up early (this is NOT a recreation or a composite, and it's not "photo-shopped," this is the real thing)!  

Trophy bull elk bugles atop a ridge as the sun burns the clouds red before it peaks over the horizon.  Nikon d700 200-400 af-s VR II, ISO 800, 1/200th @ f4, hand held.  

I'm exited to see what the next few weeks brings!  Snow, no snow, ice, wind, sun or rain, I'll be out there and getting up early!

Cheers, Tony

Glacier National Park, Fall Color Update, Sun Road/Logan Pass

Well, the only thing I can say is get ready for fall colors in Glacier National Park - I'm predicting one of the best years in a decade!  The middle and lower elevations where there are aspens are starting now to turn from dark green to light green and yellow, with some orange coming on in places.

Things are going to be outstanding this year! This year we have had so much rain that it's going to be possible to get some stunning colors after a fresh rain!  Grab the cameras and the lenses from 12mm to 300 and get out the door! The best places for fall colors and great vistas is of course the west side of Logan Pass, the Going to the Sun Road, the Two Medicine Valley, the Chief Mountain Road, Cut Bank Creek, and the south route around the park, Highway Two.

On my recent trip around the Park, and up to Waterton International Peace Park, I found that colors ranged from completely orange and peaking up around Sofa Mountain in Waterton and over the Chief Mountain road, to green with some light green to yellow around East Glacier Park.

Full colors are stunning between West Glacier  and East Glacier along Highway 2.  The one thing I have noticed this year is that it's very spotty.  In one place the trees are green and 100 feet over there's an orange tree.  Go figure.  What does this mean.  I'm not sure other than it means you better plan your trip and leave in the next few days . . .

© tonybynum.com fall trees glacier national park 

I suspect the overall peak for the east side will be next week to 10 days if the weather holds - it's raining now.  I suggest, when you're here, to shoot just after a rain and with a polarizer filter.  Watch the sky with your polarizer as it can create uneven blues, but use it to help "pop" the colors in the foliage.

Hurry up and get out here for what I think might be the best color in a decade.  And for those that now Glacier Park, it's always a gamble to find good color on the east side.  From one year to the next its always different but it's always a crap shoot!  This year, I'd say is the year to be here!   Time will tell, and if we avoid any big cold snaps and continue with cold nights and relatively warm days, look out!

© tonybynum.com fall aspens glacier national park 

Going to the Sun Road & Logan Pass
Accelerated rehabilitation on Going-to-the-Sun Road (Sun Road) starts at midnight, September 19, 2010. Starting Monday, September 20, west side fall motor vehicle access will be restricted at Avalanche. Logan Pass will remain accessible for motor vehicle traffic from the east side, weather permitting, until the pass is closed for the season to all vehicle traffic on Monday, October 18. Hikers are advised that after this weekend
(beginning September 20), no vehicles will be allowed to access the Loop or Packer’s Roost trailheads.

Park Chief of Maintenance Jim Foster stresses that, “Throughout the ongoing Sun Road rebuilding, park visitors will continue to have access to Logan Pass during the fall season, weather permitting, from one side until the third Monday in October, which is October 18 this year.”


Thanks to those that participated in my poll, it's helpful and I'll follow up accordingly.

One last thing - wildlife.  Where are they. . .  Hm. . .  good question.  You can see elk on Two Dog Flats, and up the road to Many Glacier, and some goats and sheep are still being spotted around Logan pass but that will end with snow fall.  Moose, you're guess is as good as mine.  Many Glacier Valley has moose but getting good quality shots of them is a chore at best!  Good luck and happy shooting!

Tony