Tag: mcdonald creek

  • Harlequin Duck Survey 2016

    Harlequin Duck Survey 2016

    Spring brings the Harlequin Ducks back to McDonald Creek. The males, in their bright plumage, mate with the females then head back to the ocean. The females are left to raise their young before rejoining the males. During this brief window, we head out to survey the ducks to see how many ducks are on…

  • Spring Trail Run

    Spring Trail Run

    Went out for a trail run yesterday up in Glacier National Park. Combined the Avalanche Trail (not Avalanche Lake Trail) with the John’s Lake Loop and McDonald Creek Trail for a sweet trail run. Later on in the season, use by the horse concessionaires can make this for a stinky affair, however, in the spring,…

  • Avalanche Lake Spring 2016 Bike and Hike

    Avalanche Lake Spring 2016 Bike and Hike

    It was a beautiful spring day and we decided to grab out bikes and backpacks and head up to Glacier National Park. I wanted to get a picture of Avalanche Lake on a bluebird day, so we made that our destination. Currently, the Going-to-the-Sun Road is closed at Lake McDonald Lodge, so we needed to…

  • Spring Snowpack Check at the Figure Eight

    Spring Snowpack Check at the Figure Eight

    It’s been a bit since I’ve been up to Glacier National Park so Kristen and I headed up there to do a bit of hiking. We wanted to check out the snow pack and enjoy an absolutely gorgeous spring day. We knew we were going to be staying low, so after considering a few options,…

  • Garden Wall Trifecta

    Garden Wall Trifecta

    Climbing on top of the Garden Wall in Glacier National Park is one of my favorite places and the three peak day including Bishops Cap, Mt. Pollock, and Piegan Mountain is a spectacular route. While I had already climbed this route a couple of times, including last year for the blog titled “Garden Wall Trifecta“, my wife and…

  • Harlequin Duck Survey Part 2

    Harlequin Duck Survey Part 2

    For mid-May, McDonald Creek in Glacier National Park was low and clear. Normally at this time, it’s fast, high and muddy. Either way, it’s a great time to go looking for Harlequin Ducks. With it being so clear, however, we had front row seats to watch them dive and feed. Once again, I was fortunate…

  • Harlequin Duck Survey

    Harlequin Duck Survey

    I have been looking forward to helping the biologists of Glacier National Park with the Harlequin Duck survey since last year. It just never worked out for last year, but this year, I was able to head out into the field looking for these amazing ducks along McDonald Creek. It was a beyond beautiful spring…

  • Walking Going-to-the-Sun Road

    Walking Going-to-the-Sun Road

    A little sunshine on the face on a bluebird day beckoned my wife and me to Glacier. The Going-to-the-Sun Road is closed at Lake McDonald on the west side, so we walked the clear road to the north end of the lake and walked around McDonald Creek. Check out the link below the video to…

  • A Day of Beginnings

    A Day of Beginnings

    Everyone has days in their lives that hold significance such as birthdays, anniversaries, graduation, the passing of loved ones. They are days to reflect on milestones, life changing events and loved ones. For me, one of the biggest is May 17th. On May 17th, 2011, I started my hiking project along McDonald Creek. It was…