On the eastern front of Glacier National Park is a remote valley known for Grizzly bears, flowers and the mountain that splits the continent.
Cutbank is a beautiful, mostly flat creek valley draining the first trickles of the Atlantic Ocean. From deep in the Cutbank valley is Triple Divide Peak which you can pour water on top of and it runs to the Pacific, the Atlantic and Hudson Bay. The exact spot in which the continent gives way in all directions towards the ocean.
What I found as I walked in this amazing place was Bear Grass.
Bear grass is a beautiful white bulb on top of a hollow but stiff stalk. They only bloom every 5 or 7 years approximately.
So sometimes the summer really doesn’t have much bear grass.
Other Summers its AMAZING!!
This seems like one of those summers.
The Olympus OMD EM5 and a light weight Slik tripod allowed me to get the best pictures of bear grass I have ever taken in my life!!
Currently I only have the 12-50 kit lens, but the Macro function on this thing is ridiculous!
I can’t believe I’m getting shots like these.
I’m very happy with the cameras ability to focus on exactly what you want to pop with detail.
I was also able to get this great blur shot of the creek.
The dramatic effect has allowed for a dream like, stylized photo. I’m completely enamored by this art setting.
But with a camera this good, you need to be capturing reality in its finest moments
Have any of you photographers out there experienced any times when nature offered you some unexpected great shots? If so, tell me about it in the comments below…
To Life,
Marc
We had to drop off of this ridge and work our way through some cliff bands, steep grass and flower filled slopes to get to the lake. 
We made our way along a huge bench above the lake and then down broken cliff bands and grassy slopes down to the lake.
This would have been impossible if the storms moved in on us. This is one of the highest elevation lakes in the whole park.
The light softening the colors on the peaks we were surrounded by.
For anyone who knows about this delicacy, you understand how happy I was to have a communal chili feed in the middle of nowhere.
We said hello to the obelisk that marks the border and we headed west three and a half miles till we saw an entrance to a heavily wooded side valley that no one I have ever met has gone up. 
I’m sure its happened, but boy oh boy… would it be few and far between.
Then into the guts we go.
That always ends and gives way to a thick tree filled mess.
Shortly after crossing it, we finally came to the first of our objectives.
We were essentially going from one main valley to the next, but over, under and through the middle of nowhere. 
No jumping pics.
Man that thing is nice.
By nightfall it was as if there were no mountains. 
Only rolling forested hills could still be seen though the white misty haze.
It has been a bizarrely wet season. We have had over three times the normal amount of precipitation.
In the plains they may just mow a separation.
So, since Glacier and Waterton are on the border, there is a boundary swath running east/west and separating the park the whole way.
The water is low enough now that it is safe. Earlier in the summer it would have been terrifying.
Note* This was not the swamp, it was the swamp after it that we could walk around. I have no pic of the awful boundary swamp. I am sorry.*
Odd feeling, for sure.
I was surprised because many of the small, forested lakes are really not too pleasant.
They even submerged themselves with an underwater camera and had me swim over them and swim at them. Crazy. I still can’t believe that this happened. Know?
Getting out, getting back in. Getting back out again. 
Swimming back 
and forth and
back again.
It is the Winona and Green Lakes of the project that are my arch nemesis.
The trail leads out of the Bowman Lake valley.
It was a perfect day, warm, clear and free of snow. The weather this May and June so far has been amazing. It was certainly one of those choice days.
It is on a remote road in the northwest corner of the park. 
Its name used to be Mud Lake and I suppose the “powers that be” thought that was a bit unflattering.
So, a while back it became Winona Lake.
I laid down in it.
Some of you may know this as one of the sites of the famous “Night of the Grizzly”maulings. For those that don’t know, here is a quick over view.
You can see Lake Nooney and Lake Wurdeman from a real common trail in Canada. They are amazing lakes. Huh? This picture was taken many years ago and have been excited to down there ever since. 
The trip was a good time though. My friend Clay and I headed back there one afternoon. He laughed the whole time cause all I did was lay down in them. 
I’ll spare you the pictures.They had to get done, but boy it’s moments like that were I can’t believe I opened my big mouth and said this was my goal. Cold water does not bother me, but mucky, muddy, goo does.
I decided to add the 30 named lakes in Waterton National Park in Alberta to the lakes project. We are Waterton/Glacier International Peace Park. Why not include them.
I would like to dedicate this entry to a guy named Mark. I don’t know his last name, but he was cool and from Oklahoma. He worked out here for a few summers and we hung out and played some great music. He was a good guitarist, and a great guy. He died about a week ago, driving to work in Oregon. Either he fell asleep or his car gave out or something, but he went off the road and died. This park will miss him and he will miss this park. He attacked it in large bites, which is always admirable.
The red scree slope in the center is directly above Sky Lake in a small hanging valley. During the early season there is a spectacular waterfall that jets right out of the hanging valley and runs a couple thousand feet to the main valley below.
Easy as that…huh?
The campground is to the left next to Pray Lake and then the ranger station, picnic area, camp store and boat docks are to the right on Middle Two Medicine Lake.
Thanks for the glasses Anna.
