Round Midnight - a photo on Flickriver

Round Midnight

            Lake MacDonald, looking south toward the Apgar Village from Rocky Point on the north shore, Glacier National Park, Montana.

When lights are low and stars are bright, the world can appear as a whole new place, perched on the edge of something vast, primordial, and limitless in its possibility. One feels the elongation and bending nature of time, and the temptation to try and simultaneously imagine both the present and past in the same moment. My cousin-in-law and I walked out here, to the shores of Lake MacDonald late one night, as we were camping with family and extended family from Oregon. The lights come from nearby Columbia Falls, the Apgar Visitor Center and Village, and toward the right, from the bathrooms of the Fish Creek Campground. Lake MacDonald is incredibly clear and fairly cold, due to all the Northern Rockies snowmelt input, and apparently runs over 400 feet deep in the middle. It formed from both erosive and glacial action, and while very nutrient poor, it manages to support an impressive suite of native fish species, including kokanee. Looking at it under these nocturnal conditions, I nearly fancied taking a swim (REM tune full volume in my head, of course), but the memory of it being cold even in the middle of the afternoon when it had been 30 degrees warmer arrested that foolish plan and put it back where it belonged. 

On the way back to camp, we heard some odd rustling and thrashing coming from the underbrush near the trail next to the lake. Turning on the headlamps to investigate, we discovered a large, and now probably blind, Western Toad individual. It was nearly as big as my hand from base of palm to tip of fingers, and I can only imagine that its hunting prowess, such as it stands, diminished severely after staring directly into twin LED beams focused right in its fully dilated eyes.

Taken on: August 5, 2016

Tags:

night

nightscape

clouds

night clouds

stars

Lake MacDonald

Lake McDonald

Glacier National Park

National Parks

National Park

U.S. National Parks

Northern Rockies

water

reflections

reflection

midnight

Montana

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Sets appears in: • Nocturnal • Northern Rockies more » • Water « less

Groups appears in: • Long Exposure • REFLECTIONS / DISTORTIONS more » • U.S. National Parks • Night Photography • Landscape photography • Nature Photography • No-Flash Night Shots • Landscape Exploration • National Parks, Monuments and Historical Sites • The Nature Conservancy • Nocturnes - Night Photography • Landscapes!!! • Landscape Beauty ! • ☆The Power Of Now ☆ • Un-enhanced American West • ☯ la quinta essenza ☯ • CIELOS Y NUBES, SKIES AND CLOUDS • ImageQuest Gallery • A NATIONAL PARK « less

Camera: Nikon D750, f/4.0, 25 sec, 16mm, ISO 6400 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Nikon D750
Lens:	16.0-35.0 mm f/4.0
Aperture:	f/4.0
Exposure Time:	25
Focal Length:	16mm
ISO:	6400
Exposure Bias:	0 EV
Flash:	Off, Did not fire
Exposure Program:	Manual
Exposure Mode:	Manual
Metering Mode:	Multi-segment
White Balance:	Manual
Scene Capture Type:	Landscape
Gain Control:	High gain up
Saturation:	High
Sharpness:	Hard
Color Space:	sRGB
Software:	Adobe Photoshop CS6 (Macintosh)
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