Glacier advise

I know its early but I am starting to think about summer trips for next year. Glacier has been on my list for the past 5 years but I have yet to visit. I am hoping planning early will change that this year. Anyway, since I've never visited alpine regions this far north before I was wondering when the best time to view wildflower would be. I would assume that sometime in July would be best but does the bloom come later since it is further north? I know glacier is lower altitude too so I just dont know how everything figures in. I am particularly interested in seeing the bear grass bloom which I think is a bit earlier than other species.

So......for those who have been, when would be the best time to catch bear grass bloom?

Thanks!
Andy

I've been there twice in late July/early August and both times we hit wildflowers at peak. We're going back in 2010 for the last week of July and 1st week of August. I hope to find the same.

This image was made on July 24, 2005. It should give you an idea of the beargrass bloom at that time of year.

I was at Glacier NP July 10-18, 2008. The wildflowers and beargrass were blooming like crazy. You're gonna love it there!

Sweet, so it sounds like the wildflower season is actually pretty long, from mid July to early August? I was originally planning on visiting in late July, particularly around the 23rd or so. From what I am hearing this might not be a bad time to shoot for.

Andy

I would say that's a good time frame. The wildflower season at Glacier, as anywhere, depends on the amount of snowfall over the winter and when the snows melts and the flowers pop up. I took the attached photo on 7/14/08. That was my only trip (so far) to Glacier, so I have no idea if that was an early wildflower season or not.

Andy, I agree with Bret's time frame. I hit great beargrass bloom in the Logan Pass area in 2005 from 7/27-8/3.

I'll chime in and agree, the last week of July is great for Beargrass and the first two weeks of August are great for the Astor and Paintbrush in the higher areas of the park like Logan Pass (6500-7000ft). The lower areas like Artist Meadow near the outlet of St Mary Lake tend to bloom with Astor and such in late August.

So looking at the calendar I can make a trip July 23-28 or August 3-8. I imagine both of these time periods are similar but do you think one would be better than the other?

Thanks

It depends on what you prefer shooting flower-wise. I tend to like the meadows of lupine, paintbrush, and astor more than just beargrass. But entirely up to you. Also, the later you get there the less water may be running in the creeks. I took this shot in late July and by early August this waterfall was pretty much dry.