Scenes from Glacier National Park: Day 3
The highlight of the third day in Glacier National Park was driving over the Going-to-the-Sun Road to the Logan Pass trailhead. From this location, it was a moderate hike to the top overlooking Hidden Lake and Bearhat Mountain. The view from the top was incredible.
View of Hidden Lake and Bearhat Mountain.
At this location, we spent an hour walking around and taking photographs. Someone on the ledge had powerful binoculars and spotted a mountain goat about a mile away (maybe the distance was shorter, but the goat appeared as a tiny white speck). I zoomed in with my telephoto lens as the mountain goat began its descent:
The long trek to Hidden Lake begins.
We spent about thirty to forty five minutes paying attention to the mountain goat. Some visitors were trying to "will" the mountain goat to come closer to our vantage point. Eventually, everyone got their wish:
After a long wait, everyone's favorite mountain goat makes its appearance above Hidden Lake.
The mountain goat found something interesting near these rocks.
After photographing the mountain goat, it was time to start trekking back to the trailhead (the trailhead further down to Hidden Lake was closed by park rangers due to bear sightings in the vicinity). Along the way, two more mountain goats appeared, this time a mother mountain goat with a baby mountain goat (a baby mountain goat is called a kid):
A mother mountain goat (a nanny) and her baby goat (a kid).
Approaching the beginning of the Logan Pass trailhead, it was clear there was something happening in the distance. A lot of people were looking out into the meadow about two hundred yards away from the trailhead. There was a grizzly bear in the vicinity! I captured the below photo with my telephoto lens at maximum focal length (400mm):
Grizzly bear seen from a distance.
As I and dozens of other visitors continued down the path toward the trailhead (Logan Pass Visitor Center), the grizzly bear was on the move. There were two rangers eyeing the situation. Eventually, one ranger blocked visitors from continuing down the path from the north and the other ranger blocked the path from the south, giving the grizzly approximately three hundred yards of space to cross the trail. I captured the below photo about a minute before the grizzly crossed the trail:
Grizzly Bear sighting at the Logan Pass trailhead in Glacier National Park.
It was a safe grizzly encounter and the rangers at Glacier National Park did a great job keeping people safe and letting the grizzly bear pass through without any issues.
After lunch at Logan Pass, we got back in our vehicles and drove back to St. Mary Lodge. After dinner, we departed for an evening photo session with nearby waterfalls.
The sun peeking through at Glacier National Park.
The final destination of the evening was near the Rising Sun campground to capture the sunset over St. Mary Lake. I spent a few minutes walking about, marveling at the beauty around me,
Contrast at St. Mary Lake.
We spent about forty five minutes setting up tripods, talking long exposures, and capturing the sunset. At the end of the evening, the sun illuminated the clouds and made for a spectacular light show. Below is my initial edit of the scene as it unfolded:
Sunset over St. Mary Lake at Glacier National Park. Note the crescent moon in the upper left corner.