Nice photo! very grand.JayAndersen wrote: ↑Wed Jun 09, 2021 2:08 am Bummer about your rough outing Pete. Wish I made it to the East side but I couldn't make it happen. Love the panoramas.
I had 4 full days of biking and hiking on the West side and took off early on June 2nd. Hit Bowman Lake on June 1st to get away from the mob, braved a hike out to Lower Quartz Lake right after sunrise. Didn't see a single person until I got back to my car. No bear encounters on the trail this time.
Got a few sunrise pics at Bowman and Lake McDonald during my stay, and plenty of cell phone pics while biking but none of those are worth sharing.
Here's one of Bowman Lake with a couple guys out kayaking before sunrise:
Hope to see more from everyone throughout the year.
Thanks Michele. I've talked about the benefits of early arrival for years.calicotraveler wrote: ↑Sun Jun 27, 2021 6:32 pm I saw your post about leaving home so early. Checked the webcam later and saw your truck (or one that looked like it) parked right up front.
You got some really nice bighorn photos! Pays to get up and out early.
Alright, nuff of that. I gotta get the video doneJay w wrote: ↑Mon Jun 28, 2021 11:10 am Nice shots Pete. Sounds like McDonald will be swimming temps soon.
Yeah, the intense , high sun and cloudless skies are gonna melt remaining snow at a rapid rate.
Warm nights make it worse.
Can’t believe 30 people were up there before you....oh yeah, I think we saw that coming. How was the parking lot when you left, and what time was that?
Yup, there was ~30(actually 10-12 after video review) or so cars there when I arrived at about 0510(actually 0512). It remains to be seen if "early entry" will become more popular. I thought there would be more since it was opening weekend. The weather forecast was a bit off. The nasty weather didn't begin to clear until later in the morning---then it was windy when I left around 1:00PM
I'm not sure when the Logan Pass parking lot filled up. I think it was around 7:30AM. I was up on the steep slopes under Clements trying to not slip and fall
Interesting that when I left the lot was full and there were 6-10 cars circling around, BUT...
It was not the sort of chaos of the past 2-3 years(and my parking attendant friend confirmed that). Traffic was moderate. No big lines of cars on the way down at 1PM and NO big lines of cars coming up either. So in my opinion, the ticket scheme is working...if working means limiting cars and indirectly people in the park between 6AM and 5PM. So while the ticket deal is a giant hassle, it is working in limiting cars and people. That in turn has made the overall "scene" less crowded and chaotic. I hope I don't contradict myself too much when I post the video.
The weekend kinda sucked from a personal point of view. My brother-in-law, "Bobby", passed away at home Saturday night. My sister Vickie was with him. So I'm glad of that. Her daughter and family live just down the road.
It was a long battle with lung cancer and other related issues. Last week after the hospice visit, it became one of those situations where it was a matter of days, not weeks or months---and Saturday was the day.
I'd known Bobby, and his younger brother and sister, since I was about 8 years old. His Mom and Dad were family friends.
Bobby was a "stand up" guy as they used to say. He'll be missed.
Jay
really liked this shot!
I’m really sorry for your loss, Pete. My heart goes out to you, Vickie, and the rest of the family.The weekend kinda sucked from a personal point of view. My brother-in-law, "Bobby", passed away at home Saturday night. My sister Vickie was with him. So I'm glad of that. Her daughter and family live just down the road.
It was a long battle with lung cancer and other related issues. Last week after the hospice visit, it became one of those situations where it was a matter of days, not weeks or months---and Saturday was the day.
I'd known Bobby, and his younger brother and sister, since I was about 8 years old. His Mom and Dad were family friends.
Bobby was a "stand up" guy as they used to say. He'll be missed.