Category Archives: Photos & Images

NYT: Climate change threatens to strip the identity of Glacier National Park

Environmental Issues, News, Photos & Images,

This morning’s New York Times has a survey article — with a photo spread — discussing the potential impact of climate change on Glacier National Park specifically and the Northern Rockies in general . . .

What will they call this place once the glaciers are gone?

A century ago, this sweep of mountains on the Canadian border boasted some 150 ice sheets, many of them scores of feet thick, plastered across summits and tucked into rocky fissures high above parabolic valleys. Today, perhaps 25 survive.

In 30 years, there may be none.

Read more . . .

Mount Nasukoin hike

Photos & Images, Travel Articles, ,

Over at the Mago Guide site, Patti Hart has posted a very nice, very detailed guide to the Mount Nasukoin hike.

Check it out .  . .

The hike to Nasukoin is without a doubt one of our favorites in the Whitefish Range of the Flathead National Forest.  It is in fact not one but three hikes where the first stop is Link Lake, next on up to Lake Mountain, and finally all the way up to the top of Nasukoin, the highest point in the Glacier View Ranger district.

Read more . . .

100 years of the Polebridge Merc

Photos & Images, Travel Articles,

The Daily Inter Lake has a nice write-up on the Polebridge Mercantile’s 100th anniversary . . .

Just before 7 a.m. on Tuesday, the sun is up and working hard to burn off fog that has settled over the Polebridge Mercantile.

Addie Cleveland walks to the front door and unlocks it for the day’s first customer, flipping the sign in the window from closed to open.

Staff members have been at the store since 5 a.m. making the Merc’s famous pastries. Tuesdays are special because not only are workers making treats for the store, they also are baking items for the Whitefish Farmer’s Market.

Read more . . .

Steven Gnam releases new photo book on Crown of the Continent

News, Photos & Images, ,

Steven Gnam, who does really nice photography work, has just released a new book on the Crown of the Continent . . .

Through the lens of his camera, Steven Gnam has captured the kind of fleeting, untamed moments that might otherwise elude the human eye, disappearing like a puff of vapor in a sprawling chunk of country called the Crown of the Continent – the ecologically diverse landscape spanning the U.S.-Canada border between Missoula and Banff, Alberta.

In his new book, “The Crown of the Continent: The Wildest Rockies,” Gnam not only preserves the wild, ephemeral beauty of those moments, but through them attaches value to the region, defending its role and depicting why it’s critical to pay attention, lest we fritter away the landscape that defines us.

Meant to promote stewardship, “The Wildest Rockies” showcases images that span the boundaries of Glacier-Waterton International Peace Park, tracking along the spine of the Rocky Mountains as the Whitefish native reanimates a landscape brimming with life.

Read more . . .

Flathead Valley fire lookouts

Fire Information and Status, Photos & Images, Travel Articles,

The Flathead Beacon posted an interesting article on fire lookouts . . .

Hiking to the remote mountaintops of the Flathead Valley can be a humbling admonisher of nature’s forces, but some of Montana’s peaks and ridges also bristle with a reminder of mankind’s attempt to subdue that vigor.

Like cabins in the sky, fire lookouts — a term used to describe both a person and a place — rose to prominence a century ago, when wildfire detection became a priority following the massive fires of 1910, and the U.S. Forest Service launched its fire lookout program in earnest.

In the 1930s, the Civilian Conservation Corps constructed more than 5,000 towers across the country, often in remote and inaccessible locations, and today, although modern technology and airplane surveillance play larger roles in spotting flames, the lookout program remains intact.

Read more . . .

Confrontation between bears at the Freund cabin

News, Photos & Images, ,

Peter Freund sent a report, with photos, to the Hungry Horse News of a set-to between a black bear with cubs and a brown bear near his cabin recently . . .

As you know, the end of July is the height of buffalo berry season along the North Fork River. At our cabin in the North Fork, this seasonal event provides for an annual feeding frenzy by the local bear population.

This year was unique with the presence of a black bear with cubs. The harvesting occurred right outside the door of our cabin.

The show started with the brown bear. All was tranquil until the brown bear encroached on the black bear’s zone, and she became loud and chased the brown bear away.

Continue reading . . .

National park photos by Ansel Adams accessible online

History, Photos & Images, ,
St. Mary Lake, Ansel Adams, 1941
St. Mary Lake, Ansel Adams, 1941

Here’s a little gem I ran across this morning on the U.S. National Archives website. It seems they have a pretty good collection of photos taken by Ansel Adams back in 1941 of many of the national parks. This includes some two dozen photos of Glacier National Park. According the the site:  “In 1941 the National Park Service commissioned famed photographer Ansel Adams to create a photo mural for the Department of the Interior Building in Washington, DC. The theme was to be nature as exemplified and protected in the U.S. National Parks.” The advent of World War II killed the project, but the images are in the national archives and accessible to the public.

Further reading:

“Ansel Adams Photographs” page at the U.S. National Archives

“Discover Ansel Adams’ 226 Photos of U.S. National Parks (and Another Side of the Legendary Photographer)” via Open Culture

Conservation photographers create exhibit highlighting threats to Flathead Valley

Environmental Issues, News, Photos & Images, , , ,

From today’s Flathead Beacon . . .

If a picture is worth a thousand words, a group of conservation photographers is giving the Flathead an ample voice as an exhibit on the values of and threats to the valley heads to Washington D.C.

Read the entire story . . .

Fantastic Glacier Park photo series by Chris Peterson

Photos & Images, ,

Folks, you have got to check out the photos from Chris Peterson’s “100 days in Glacier National Park” project.

Related reading/viewing . . .

Lido Vizutti of the Flathead Beacon has a nice write-up.

Boston.com’s “The Big Picture” section has a nice selection from the series at somewhat better resolution than the ones in Chris Peterson’s official web log for the project.

Did I mention that you have got to check this out? Oh, right . . .