Montana | Beautiful Flower Pictures Blog

Wildflowers at Glacier National Park

by hankinslawrenceimages | Nov 7, 2011 | Flowers, Montana, Photo Locations, Wildflowers

I didn’t find very many wildflowers to photograph at Glacier National Park when I visiting in June. Probably had something to do with all that snow . . . However, I did lover the ones I found. Seeing (and photographing) the alpine wildflowers at Glacier National Park is on my to-do list for 2012.

Here are some of the wildflowers I photographed in Glacier National Park

Striped Coral Root Orchid – Corallorhiza striata – a wonderful native orchid I spotted while driving to lunch one day

Beargrass – Xerophyllum tenax – a member of the lily family . Both elk & bighorn sheep graze on the flowers

Alpine Paintbrush – Castilleja rhexifolia – a relative of the Orange Paintbrush I photographed in 2010 in Colorado.

Pasqueflower – Anemone patens – a member of the buttercup family

Glacier National Park

by hankinslawrenceimages | Oct 26, 2011 | Montana, Photo Locations

What I saw of Glacier National Park was amazing!!! Unfortunately, I didn’t get to see most of the park. Going to the Sun Road is the one road that goes through the center of the park – it’s about 50 miles long – and over 30 miles of it were still closed due to snow while I was visiting the park in June. While I was there, I saw some incredible photos of the snow taken on June 4 at the Logan Pass Visitor Center. If you look closely – you can barely see the roof in the photos! I’m heading back to Glacier National Park next year – in July – so hopefully the road will be open and I’ll be able to see the alpine meadows.

Even though I couldn’t visit large portions of the park – I fell in love with Glacier National Park. The views were incredible. You’ll probably notice an awful lot of water in my photos from Glacier National Park – not only was the snow melting – but it rained almost the entire time I was there!

Avalanche Creek

Upper Avalanche Gorge

Lower Avalanche Gorge

Water from melting snow pouring down a mountain side

St. Mary Lake – note the white caps on the waves at St Mary Lake – on the one day it wasn’t raining – I was experiencing 40 mph winds.

As you can – Glacier National Park is spectacular. I can’t wait to head back there next summer.

Amazing Parks of the West

by hankinslawrenceimages | Jul 17, 2011 | Montana, North Dakota, Photo Locations, South Dakota, Wyoming

As you may know I spent most of the month of June on an incredible photography trip to some of the state and national parks in North & South Dakota, Wyoming and Montana. I put over 6400 miles on my car, explored wonderful places I’d only heard about before, and took thousands of photographs. I’m just starting to seriously process my photos from the trip but I thought you might like to see some of my favorites that I edited while I was on the road. I was hoping to photograph some landscapes, wildlife and wildflowers on the trip. And fortunately I found wonderful opportunities to photograph all of them.
	My first stop on the trip was at Custer State Park in Custer, South Dakota. Several photographer friends had recommended Custer State Park as a great place for wildlife. Their wildlife drives are amazing. I saw and photographed my first wild bison and antelope at Custer. I also discovered just how cute (and loud) prairie dogs are!
From Custer State Park I headed on to Yellowstone National Park – the oldest park in the National Park System. When you think of the grand parks of the west – Yellowstone immediately comes to mind. The landscapes were incredible and I photographed more wildflowers at Yellowstone than anywhere else on the trip.
	After visiting Yellowstone, I headed south to Grand Teton National Park. This was one of the parks I totally fell in love with and can’t wait to return to. It had everything a photographer could hope to find – wildflowers, wildlife, and incredible landscapes. On one of my hikes I saw four pairs of mother and baby moose. It was at Grand Teton that I found two of the wildflowers I was really hoping to find – Pink Shooting Stars and a Fairy Slipper orchid.
Next up was Glacier National Park – where I learned just how late spring can arrive in the mountains of Montana. Going to the Sun Road which goes across the park was still buried under many many feet of snow while I was there in mid-June. The rangers were showing visitors recent photos of the Visitor Center at Logan Pass – where the snow was up to the roof line. I fell in love with the landscapes at Glacier – incredible mountains, glacial lakes and wonderful waterfalls. Next time I head to Glacier it will be later in the summer – in hopes that Going to the Sun Road will be open and I can see more of the park.
	My last stop on the trip was at Theodore Roosevelt National Park. Located in the badlands of North Dakota – one of the highlights of the park was the wild horses roaming the landscapes. It was while visiting this part of North Dakota in the 1880s that Theodore Roosevelt began to become aware of issues such as conservation and the need to protect species from extinction. Later as President of the United States, Roosevelt oversaw the protection of close to 230 million acres of public lands.
I, for one, am very grateful to visionaries such as Theodore Roosevelt. The lands protected in our National Parks, Wildlife Refuges and Forests are a treasure for all of us to enjoy. Had earlier generations not preserved these lands for us – we would not be able to enjoy them today. Photos in the article are Avalanche Creek – Glacier National Park Bison – Custer State Park Prairie Smoke – Yellowstone National Park Shooting Stars – Grand Teton National Park Bear Grass – Glacier National Park Wild Horse in the Fog – Theodore Roosevelt National Park Barn on Mormon Row – Grand Teton National park

Next Entries »