Forever Glacier 360: Getting Dirty in the North Fork
The North Fork of the Flathead River.
“Glacier Park is home to over 1500 miles of streams that are fed by alpine glaciers and snowpack. These river ecosystems are the flowing water catchments that drain our landscapes – and they are teeming with life.
“Often starting with glaciers, snowmelt, springs, backwater sloughs, lakes, and ponds, soon the water gathers into creeks, streams, and rivers moving nutrients throughout a wider reach than they ever could without water. The earth, plants, insects, micro-organisms, and animals along the way have biotic interactions dependent on this flowing system…The everchanging geomorphology of creeks, streams, and rivers continually changes the earth around it, and impacts the life supported by its dynamic nature.” - Ben Polley, Forever Glacier: River Bottom Habitat Description
The North Fork of the Flathead River borders the western edge of Glacier National Park and is an iconic and less crowded destination than Going-to-the-Sun Road, for example. For a few months every year, locals load up their bug out mobiles on a Thursday or Friday and “head up the North Fork” on a washboard gravel road, rallying around corners and tailgating tourists going the speed limit, to get away from summer crowds and cell phone service. Wide open meadows and fecund river bottom habitat make for stunning views and plenty of wildlife sightings, including dangerous megafauna like grizzly bears and moose.
This was our first destination on the list, and also the nearest to our homes. Nico and I headed out early to get some of our first shots of the park, as quality of light and conditions obviously matter a lot when filming outdoors and we planned to try out morning vs. evening light. We drove my Subaru Outback (the “Montana State Car”) up the North Fork road on the southwest edge of the park, looking for likely spots that captured the essence of Glacier’s river bottom habitat—water, meadows, big peaks in the background. We stopped at the iconic Polebridge Mercantile for a baked treat and hot coffee, as one does when in the area.
The river flows fast, high and muddy in early spring, quite clear in the summer with fun rapids, and bony (low water level) in the fall. I hoped we could capture all three states for an interesting cross-fade time lapse effect. We also came up with the idea of filming some point-of-view (POV) shots to use to put viewers behind the eyes of a small ground-dwelling rodent, like a marmot, ground squirrel or pika. It could be an interesting transition from one stationary 360 video shot, to a quick scurry up a boulder or across a river (waterproof GoPro for the win!), to a new perspective.
Check out the Whitetail Deer Forever Glacier Lithograph to take home a piece of the park to brighten your home!
It’s a dirty job but somebody has to do it. My rig was covered in frozen mud from the aforementioned washboard gravel road, which subsequently stained my driveway with red-orange dirt as it slid off.