Around Lake McDonald 02-28-2012

[Pocketlint]

Hey everyone:

I went out to the park today to talk to the BC Office people about a backpack I'm helping a couple chatters on here plan.
After that I went for a little snowshoe walk along the Middle Fork over by the horse barn at Apgar.
I had to cut it short because(as I found out tonight) the bandaid on my lil blister had slipped down
So then I decided since it was a nice afternoon, I'd ride up to Lake McDonald Lodge and take some pictures and video with my lil point-and-shoot camera.
A few of them turned out decent enough that I wasn't too embarrassed to post here.
Some are sort of redundant but I included them anyway.
The first ones are from around Lake McDonald
I took some from around the beach in front of the Apgar Village. That was around noon so the light was really bad(flat). The better ones were around 4PM when the sun was down at a better angle. Most were from the beach down in front of Lake McDonald Lodge...and a couple back at Apgar boat ramp.
I couldn't wait longer for better light because I had to get back to check on something for work

These are not in any particular order.

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These 3 were taken at noon on the beach when the light sucked. You can really see what a difference lighting makes. Late in the day is soooooo much better

[Pocketlint]

Well, these are sort of near Lake McDonald. I began by the horse barn at Apgar....which is close to Lake McDonald right?
Wasn't worth beginning a new thread.
I have some video I'll post tomorrow.
I do talk on the video where these were taken.
I didn't say a word on the vide from Lake Mc Donald Lodge area.
Nothing I could say would add to the beauty of that place today, so I kept my yap shut!

Here are a few from my short snowshoe walk (3miles RT)
Nothing really great. It was about 1PM so light was really flat.
But, blister notwithstanding, being out here on a nice cold(mid 20's), clear day beats the hell out staying home...hands down

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[Deb1741]

Beautiful pictures! You are so lucky to live so close to the mountains and a variety of trails. It makes it so much easier to get out for a short hike on the spur of the moment. Red Lodge and the mountains are 60 miles from me. We have done daytrips to there and to the Crazy Mts north of Big Timber but they involve being gone for about 6-7 hours. I'd kill to have some mountains where that I could get to in less than 30 minutes.
Deb

[flatlander]

Thanks Pete -- just beautiful. Makes me remember how much I liked to visit GNP in the winter.
Take care of that toe!

[Ear Mountain]

Pete,
You have some nice photos there. But when I saw the title of your post I was thinking that you skied all the way around Lake McDonald.

[Pocketlint]

Pete,
You have some nice photos there. But when I saw the title of your post I was thinking that you skied all the way around Lake McDonald.

Thanks for the photo comment.
Personally, I like the second picture where the mountain is framed by the tree branches. I thought that one came out well.

I really don't like these LCD viewfinders on the new cameras. I like the old fashioned viewfinders where you have to put your eye up to it. Depending on the sun angle and position, I can't see jack &%#@ in the viewfinder on this point and shoot camera...and that is especially true if wearing polarized sunglasses. And it's really hard to "frame" a shot when you can't see what you're doing.

In my dreams I could ski around Lake McDonald.
I guess that title was kind of misleading
I'd be happy to just be able to ski up to Avalanche and back...without falling
I'm seriously thinking of snowshoeing out to Bowman and camping. I'm pretty sure I'm up for that, especially if I wait a while and let the snow settle and firm up some....maybe a little later in the season.
I think that would be a great weekend trip.

pocketlint

[Ear Mountain]

Ski/snowshoe into Bowman and camp for the night! That's a great idea. Maybe camp for two nights and shoe up toward Numa Lookout as far as energy permitted.

[Pocketlint]

Ski/snowshoe into Bowman and camp for the night! That's a great idea. Maybe camp for two nights and shoe up toward Numa Lookout as far as energy permitted.

Yes, two nights would be better. I could get off on a Friday, then I could hike in with plenty of daylight to set up camp...time dig out a spot if need be, etc. That would give me all day Saturday to explore. Then all day Sunday to come out.
I need a decent weather forecast though. I really don't want to be huddled in my tent out there for the weekend. That's NOT my idea of a fun camping trip.
The bummer is you can't have a fire while Winter Camping. I understand the logic as explained to me yesterday by Ranger "Ellen"? Ithink her name was.......too many people too lazy to search for downed wood so they cut/break off live branches. These are undoubtably the same morons that forced the Park to put up those signs saying "Do Not Drive On Meadows"

pocketlint