Glacier National Park, Montana – A Photologue: From Logan Pass to Siyeh Bend to St. Mary Falls

From Logan Pass Visitor Center, it’s all downhill….driving, that is. The photography on the eastern side of the pass is just as stupendous as on the western side, if not moreso.

This image taken just a mile or so beyond the visitor center has special meaning for me – some 20+ years ago, I made my first trip back to the park since my family moved to Kentucky when I was 9 years old. I of course only had a film camera, and I photographed this very same spot as you see below; years later, I uploaded the film version to my Flickr site, although the scanner didn’t do the image justice. So when I returned to this spot in 2008, I just had to take another photo with my digital SLR.

Further down the way is a large-ish pullout across the road from Lunch Creek, a glacial cirque with a waterfall far up near the top and a bubbling creek flowing along roadside. I don’t know where they got the name for this place, but as one friend remarked “it is a nice spot to rest and have lunch”. When I photographed this image in 2008, the sun shone and the sky was blue. In 2009, it was raining and the cirque was hidden by the cloud mist.

Just a little further down the road is the hairpin turn called Siyeh Bend (pronounced Sigh-yee by the locals). There’s a much larger parking pullout there because it’s one of the trailheads for the Siyeh Pass hike, which forks off at one point onto the Piegan Pass Trail.

Looking toward Siyeh Bend and the mountains.

From whence I came: looking the opposite way of Siyeh Bend.

The scent of pine.

Onward toward the east, with a stop along the way to hike the short trail (maybe a mile or a little less) to St. Mary Falls. This is an amazing falls with beautiful turquoise waters spilling out and down the St. Mary River.

Flowing downstream from the falls.

The trail to St. Mary Falls extends further to Virgina Falls. Although I made it a little ways further along the trail, I never quite made it to Virginia Falls during either of my visits to the park.