Images of Glacier National Park, East – Northern Montana, taken in July and August 2021.

The weather can change rapidly in Glacier National Park but this year was different for two reasons. First, when I was here in 2011 the Going to the Sun Road was still covered in snow until the middle of July whereas this year it was opened in June but the bigger issue was smoke from the many wildfires burning throughout the western states. Prior to coming to Glacier I had been in the smoke for several weeks straight so I was worried about what I might encounter and sure enough it wasn’t good. The only saving grace were the several thunderstorms which periodically cropped up and temporarily cleared the air long enough for me to get into the park to see it without the shroud of smoke; but then the issue became the heavy storm clouds which also tended to obstruct my view, particularly at the higher altitudes. As much as possible I took these issues in stride and got some dramatic cloud cover images until, during my last week in Montana, I was lucky enough to get one day which was not only cloudless but also smoke free allowing me to be able to take in one of my favorite spots on the east side of the park, the view of Wild Goose Island in Saint Mary Lake and the surrounding mountains.