Category Archives: Montana

May 28, 2021 · 6:13 am

What’s On Tap For Your Memorial Day Weekend?

*A Smoky Morning Along McDonald Creek in Glacier National Park (Montana)*

Planning to visit a national park this 3-day holiday weekend? If so, make sure you check that park’s website for alerts/closures and whether or not you might need a reservation to access certain parts of that park.

Take Glacier National Park, for instance. No, you don’t need to worry about forest fires if you visit now. This image was captured several years ago, during the Sprague Fire on the western side of the park. But, you do need to be aware that the Many Glacier Road is closed this weekend, and visits to this national park now require not only a park pass to enter, but also reservations since it’s ticketed entry to drive Going-to-the-Sun Road.

Same thing with Rocky Mountain National Park – timed entry tickets are required and all the pre-reserved tickets are sold out. This national park does keep a percentage of tickets for those wishing to enter the park on that day. If you want to avoid a reservation, then you need to enter the park before 5 a.m. or after 6 p.m. Good reasons to be an early riser or night owl for sunrise, sunset, and night photography.

I’m staying home this weekend. I do NOT want to encounter the huge crowds I know will be in the parks, and I’m still prepping for my Big Trip that I’ll be taking in about 2 weeks.

Where ever you go, whatever you do, stay safe, keep a good social distance, and be nice to people … unless they are doing something totally stupid, in which case, gently remind them to not do whatever stupid thing it is they are doing (like trying to get a selfie in front of that momma grizzly and her cubs). Your reminders probably won’t work, but at least you’ll have done your part.

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Filed under Glacier National Park MT, Holidays, Memorial Day, Montana, National Parks, Photography, Travel

Tagged as holiday, Memorial Day, National Park, national parks, photography, travel

April 28, 2021 · 6:30 am

Traveler’s Checklist For Glacier National Park

*The view along Grinnell Glacier Trail in the Many Glacier Area of Glacier National Park (Montana)*

The National Parks Traveler has published my latest Traveler’s Checklist. This week’s helpful planner is all about visiting Glacier National Park. If you are thinking about visiting this park for the first time, or are revisiting it again for the hundredth time, check out this checklist to see if you find anything helpful, or if it jives with the list you might be making for your trip.

To read the article, click on the image above.

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Filed under Glacier National Park MT, Montana, National Parks, National Parks Traveler, Photography, Travel

Tagged as checklist, Glacier National Park, Montana, National Park, National Parks Traveler, photography, planning, travel, Traveler's Checklist, trip planning, where the trails take you

March 5, 2021 · 5:42 am

Fun Fact Friday, 3-5-2021

It’s #FunFactFriday ! Meet Chief Mountain. Half of it is in the eastern portion of Glacier National Park, and half of it is in the Blackfeet Reservation. Named Ninaistako by the Blackfeet, it’s a place of sacred ritual and ceremony going back thousands of years.

According to the National Park Service’s Geodiversity Atlas for Glacier National Park, it’s also a premier example of a klippe: “a geologic term for the erosional remnant of older rocks in a thrust sheet completely detached from comparably aged rocks trailing behind. Like the Lewis Overthrust itself, Chief Mountain is considered one of the world’s outstanding examples of a klippe; its images grace the pages of many geologic textbooks.” Come to think of it, I believe I *have* seen this mountain in one of my geology textbooks.

Back in 2017, when I told my editor I was heading into Glacier National Park, he asked me for images of Chief Mountain to go with a National Parks Traveler article about bison, I think. On the day I traveled over to this area, it was really hazy with smoke from the Sprague Fire over on the west side of the park. So getting a clear image was impossible – on that day, at least – and took a little bit of editing and Adobe Lightroom’s dehaze slider to bring forth any details.Veiled with wildfire smoke or not, Chief Mountain is an impressive site.

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Filed under Glacier National Park MT, Montana, National Parks, Photography, Travel

Tagged as 100-400mm, Canon, Canon 1DX, geology, Glacier National Park, Montana, National Park, photography, telephoto, telephoto lens

December 21, 2020 · 6:08 am

It’s The First Day Of Winter, 2020!

Happy first day of winter! Is it snowing where you are? It’s raining here and going to be 55 degrees, which is unusually warm for my part of Washington state this time of year. Feels odd. It’s supposed to start getting chillier tomorrow.

The shot above was captured 3 years ago, in January, along Going-to-the-Sun Road in Glacier National Park. I was trying out new snowshoes (and having a devil of a time with the straps), and of course lugging a loaded camera pack with me, so I ultimately did not get too very far. The view, nonetheless, was pretty nice. There were a few cross-country skiers who zipped on past me that morning, but overall, not many others venturing outside, which was just fine by me.

Even though it’s a Monday, I hope your first day of winter is a good one.

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Filed under Glacier National Park MT, Montana, Photography, winter

Tagged as Glacier National Park, Going-to-the-Sun Road, leading line, National Park, photography, road, snow, winter, winter solstice

December 14, 2019 · 8:57 am

Road Construction In Many Glacier Soon

Hey folks! If you are thinking of taking a 2020-2021 trip to the Many Glacier area of Glacier National Park (like I am), then you’ll want to read the article published in today’s edition of the National Parks Traveler. There’s (finally) going to be some much-needed road construction on the Many Glacier Road that will probably cause a few headaches for travelers.

To read the article, click on the image above.

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Tagged as Glacier National Park, Many Glacier, Montana, National Park, National Parks Traveler, photography, travel, where the trails take you

March 4, 2019 · 10:11 am

Clouds In The Mountains, Glacier National Park

I’ve been going through archived photos lately, reworking some and editing ones I’d never bothered with before. Why? In part, that’s what photographers do when they get better at their editing skills, and in addition, I’ve discovered that the square format I’ve never liked is actually quite helpful at creating a photo from something I thought was useless but which I didn’t want to consign to the virtual trash bin.

That square format – the one Instagram likes so much – I’ve learned, once again, to never say never. As a matter of fact, I’m writing an article for the National Parks Traveler about the square format and Instagram, but it won’t show up until probably around June, since I already have articles in queue up through May.

For now, consider this yet another piece of advice to never delete images you think are no good because of that blurry leaf amongst the otherwise clear leaves, or the car you accidentally photographed going over a bridge with a beautiful waterfall beneath it. The squre crop tool can remove those things, but you need to keep an eye out on how you crop your image so you continue to tell the story you want of that particular landscape.

As for this image, it was captured a long time ago. I was driving from the western entrance to the park, up to Logan Pass. The clouds were low and swirling around the mountains and I stopped to get a shot along the way up to The Loop, that first real switchback up Going-To-The-Sun Road.

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Filed under autumn, Canon, Glacier National Park MT, Montana, National Parks, Photography, Seasons, Travel, Travel and Photography

Tagged as autumn, Canon, clouds, forest, Glacier National Park, landscape, Montana, mountains, National Park, photography, Rebecca Latson Photography, rebeccalatsonphotography, scenery, square format, travel, trees

June 24, 2018 · 8:16 am

Going-to-the-Sun Road is Open!

A view of Going-to-the-Sun road from the Highline Trail in Glacier National Park

Yahoo! Going-to-the-Sun Road in Glacier National Park is now officially cleared of snow and open for the 2018 summer season to vehicles in all of its 50-mile stretch, as of June 23rd, 2018.

For those of you who have never visited Glacier National Park and driven along this National Historic Landmark for views of some of the most stunning scenery within a national park, it’s quite a feat to plow the snow from this road every year, starting in early spring. Usually, the road is open either at the end of June or sometimes, in early-mid July. So June 23rd is pretty early.

The history of this road is quite interesting, and if you want to read about it, click on the photo above. The article is a little dated, but the history and trivia remains the same.

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Filed under Glacier National Park MT, Landscape, Montana, National Parks, National Parks Traveler, Photography, Travel, Travel and Photography, Vacation

Tagged as Glacier National Park, Glacier NP, going-to-the-sun, gtts, Highline Trail, landscape, Montana, photography, Rebecca Latson Photography, rebeccalatsonphotography, road

June 22, 2018 · 5:10 am

Hiking The Trail And Leaving No Trace

One of today’s newly-published articles in the National Parks Traveler is titled “Leave No Trace This Summer As You Explore The Outdoors.” This article reminded me of this image that I had just reworked, so I thought I’d post it along with the advice to leave no trace and pack in what you pack out. Is it possible to really leave no trace? Well, go read the article in the Traveler to find out.

This image was taken 10 years ago, during the very first photo workshop I’d ever taken, using one of my very first full-frame cameras (Canon 5D). The workshop took place in Glacier National Park, Montana and – while a bit strenuous in terms of hiking for my tastes and physical capabilities – was a worthwhile event that led me to continue joining up in other photo tours and workshops (yes, there is a slight difference between the two and I actually wrote an article about it in the National Parks Traveler back in 2014).

This image is looking back on part of the trail from St. Mary Falls leading onward to Virginia Falls.

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Filed under 24-105mm, 5D, Canon, Canon Lens, Equipment, Glacier National Park MT, Montana, National Parks, National Parks Traveler, Photography, Travel, Travel and Photography

Tagged as Canon, forest, full-frame, Glacier National Park, Glacier NP, hike, hiking, Montana, mountain, mountains, National Park, National Parks Traveler, photo workshop, photography, trail

May 20, 2018 · 5:36 am

A National Park Road

Roads get us to and through the national parks we love to visit, like the Going-To-The-Sun road pictured here, that bisects the park from east to west (or west to east) and takes us through some of the finest mountain scenery in the Lower 48 (imho).

Speaking of roads, if you are of a mind to read the latest national park news, such as the coming opening of the Tioga Road in Yosemite National Park, or the latest explosive activity at Kilauea in Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park, or where you should pitch your tent or park your RV within a national park, then go on over to the National Parks Traveler and read all about it.

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Filed under Canon, Glacier National Park MT, Montana, National Parks, National Parks Traveler, Photography, Travel

Tagged as Canon, Glacier National Park, going-to-the-sun, gtts, landscape, landscape photography, Montana, National Park, National Parks Traveler, photography, road, travel