Haystack Falls in Glacier National Park

Haystack Falls

After spending extended time down on the Oregon coast, I am trying to get caught up on print orders and other business matters.

Here is one of the images I am creating a print of.  It's an evening picture of Haystack Creek Falls along the Going-to-the-Sun Road in Glacier National Park, taken just as the sun was highlighting the peaks of the Garden Wall above.

This beautiful waterfall cascades down the western side of the Garden Wall, and spills under a stone bridge.  It is seems terraced, as if it were man made (it's not).

The Going-to-the-Sun Road is voted one of America's most scenic roads year after year.  If you haven't visited the area, I highly recommend you do so.  And don't forget to take your camera!

You will need a wide angle lens (this was shot at 24mm), and if shooting in evening light as I did, a 2-stop graduated neutral density filter.

More images of this area can be viewed on my website at www.mountainscenes.com/glacier.html.

As always, thanks for viewing!

2013 Calendar Images



Garden Wall above Granite Park.

2012 has started nicely for me, with these three images being selected to appear in a 2013 calendar.  I hope there will be many more such stories to share this year!

The first image is from Granite Park in Glacier National Park in Montana.  It was taken on the first day of a 7 day backpack of the North Circle.  The view is looking back along the Garden Wall towards Logan Pass - our starting point.

We were fortunate to catch the flowers in bloom, albeit slightly past their peak in most instances (not all).  Granite Park, Fifty Mountain, Sue Lake Bench and Stoney Indian Lake all presented magnificent meadows in full bloom for us.  Such a treat!

This hike is available as a day hike as well for those not wishing to commit to an extended stay.  The Highline Trail along the Garden Wall can be hiked to Granite Park and back to Logan Pass, or as a one-way trip by doing The Loop and catching the park shuttle back up to Logan Pass.

Either way, it makes for a fantastic trip!

Haystack Falls

The second image is also from Glacier National Park, though a different trip.

Haystack Falls is located along the Going-to-the-Sun Road as it nears Logan Pass.  It's a beautiful waterfall that catches the eye of most motorists as they pass.  The cascade is framed by brick work as the road crosses the stream.

Care should be taken here if choosing to photograph the waterfall.  This area has a high volume of traffic for most of the day and turnouts are limited.  The best parking is a short walk away, and involves carefully walking the road back to the falls.  I recommend visiting in late afternoon when most people have returned to their campsite for dinner.  In fact, that is exactly when I took this image!

Another important consideration is to know the scheduled road closures for Going-to-the-Sun Road for road repair work.  I believe the work is scheduled to last through 2013.  Haystack Falls is beyond the gate and not accessible once the closure takes place.

To view more images from this wonderful park, including additional images of Granite Park and Haystack Falls, you may view my Glacier National Park Gallery.

Elowah Falls.

The final image is from a little closer to my home.  It's of Elowah Falls in the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area in Oregon.

Elowah Falls is approached via a short hike from the John B. Yeon trailhead.  It's about 0.75 miles to the falls on a pleasant forest trail.  It can easily be combined with Upper McCord Creek Falls.

Elowah Falls is located in a large basin, offering many different compositions of the falls.  Much time can be spent here, and should be.  One can include the bridge, shown here, or use many other possible foregrounds, including rocks in the stream or plentiful vegetation.

I recommend combining this hike with visits to Latourell Falls, Multnomah Falls, Ponytail Falls, Bridal Veil Falls, Wahkeena Falls and more!  There is a lot to see in the Columbia River Gorge, and one can easily spend a full day doing so.  Don't forget Beacon Rock and Stonehenge on the Washington side!

You can view more images of Elowah Falls, as well as many other waterfalls of this area in my Columbia River Gorge Gallery.

Enjoy, and thanks for visiting!

Going-to-the-Sun Road

The Going-to-the-Sun Road in Glacier National Park is regularly voted one of the most scenic roads in America year after year by many publications. And for good reason! It is quite the engineering accomplishment, having been blasted from rock in many places as it switchbacks up to highly scenic Logan Pass. Views from this road are outstanding!

But this road has much to see in it lower stretches as well as it leaves Apgar Village and winds around the waters of Lake McDonald. Views across the water to distant peaks are magnificent, especially in early season when the peaks are still snow-capped.

Just past the Lake McDonald Lodge is scenic McDonald Falls and the Sacred Dancing Cascades of McDonald Creek (shown above). Sacred Dancing Cascades are easiest reached from a pullout alongside the road. Across the foot bridge, a short trail leads to McDonald Falls.

A short ways up the road is Avalanche Gorge. A trail ascends thru the gorge en route to Avalanche Lake, one of the most popular hikes in the park. This trail can also be accessed from the Avalanche Creek Campground.

The gorge is magnificent with its deep blue rushing water. There are many viewpoints of it along the trail - all worth checking out. The view from the bridge might be the best of all though.

A great time for photographing Avalanche Gorge is in the morning before the sun hits the area. The area rests in shadows until mid-morning. I also found the area void of breezes for about the first hour of each morning I photographed it.

Obviously, cloudy skies would also be kind to this area.

You can continue up the trail to Avalanche Lake for possible evening photography. However, I think your efforts might be better spent else where.

Going-to-the-Sun Road continues up the valley. As it nears The Loop trailhead, views begin to open up to Mount Canon and other peaks towering above you. There are some nice pullouts along this stretch. Watch for wildlife in this area.

Continuing around the sharpe switchback, the road begins to climb in earnest. Views of Heavens Peak across the valley are excellent, and only get better! Beautiful sunrises and sunsets can be captured from various pullouts along here. Clouds can be dramatic during unsettled weather.

I found the last pullout (before the road goes around a sharp corner) to be the best for evening compositions of Mount Canon and Oberlin, but others would work as well. The view back down McDonald Valley is also impressive.

The previous evening I passed this spot after shooting Haystack Falls and saw a group of about twenty photographers set up here. Both evenings I shot from here, I was alone.

I wasn't fortunate to get much cloud action during my visits here. In fact, conditions became quite hazy during my second evening of shooting, with a storm advancing on the area. Still, beggars can't be choosers!

Road work on the Going-t0-the-Sun Road also dictated my shooting during the week days as the road was closed a short ways beyond this pullout at 9:00 pm. Sunset was close to 9:30 during my visit.

Next up is Haystack Falls. Pullouts are limited for this waterfall, but do exist. Evenings are a less hectic time to photograph this waterfall, after most road traffic has subsided. There really isn't much of shoulder to the road here, so your tripod will be set up in the road. Of course, evening also brings the best light to this area.

As this waterfall eminates from the snow above along the Garden Wall, I would assume this waterfall to all but vanish in late season once the snow is gone. These images were taken in late July, for the record.

There are a lot of composition choices for this waterfall. You can compose tight as I did on the first one, you can include part of the fancy stone work along the side of the road, you can include the pool at its base and/or the peaks above, etc. It's a fun waterfall to play with.

Beyond Haystack Falls, the road traverses below Weeping Wall and climbs up to Logan Pass, with jaw-dropping views the entire way.

As a photographer, you can really "get lost" along this road if you choose to. Opportunities seem to abound around every bend.

If planning to visit Glacier in the next couple of years, I would definitely encourage you to note the road closure times for construction and plan around them, especially in summer when sunrise and sunset both occur during closed times. This project was originally suppose to be coming to a close soon, but was recently extended in thanks to the Stimulous Package.

I hope enjoyed my little tour of the Going-to-the-Sun Road.