Wild Goose Island, Glacier National Park

On November 26, 2016, in Montana, by admin
Sunrise over Lost Goose Island

Sunrise over Lost Goose Island (click to enlarge)

Here is my take on the iconic image from Glacier National Park.  Sunrise at Wild Goose Island is the image taken by every photo tour group at Glacier National Park.  There is an overlook beside Going to the Sun Highway that provides a great view of the island and Saint Mary Lake.

I recommend visiting this overlook during the day and looking at various compositions to determine where you would like to set your tripod for sunrise.  Should there be a photo tour group in the area, they set up at the top of the overlook in a tight group.  It is slightly humourous to see 10-15 photographers crammed together taking identical images.

Based on my scouting the overlook area the day prior, I setup to the left and slightly down from where the photo tours set up their tripods.  As the sun rose, I moved around to other spots I had looked at the day prior.

I arrived well before sunrise.  The photo tours seem to arrive 30 minutes or so before sunrise.  So if you want that spot at the top of the overlook where the photo tours normally gather, get there early!

My wife and I stayed just outside the park in West Glacier.  My wife chose to drive that morning, departing about 0330.  It was a very dark drive, and not for the faint of heart. Don’t think about the drop-offs just over those stone walls.

This would also be a good daytime image if there were clouds in the sky.  Too bad for me, there was not a cloud in the sky during my daylight visit to the overlook.

Wild Goose Island Overlook: N48 41 30.15 W113 31 53.44

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