I have to admit, when I first started watching the DVD Seasons of The National Parks: Glacier, after the first few frames of the video went by on the screen, I was expecting to hear a narrator start telling me about the park. When this didn't happen, I looked at the DVD jacket and realized that the program included a musical backdrop instead. Never having experienced this format before, I wasn’t sure what it would be like to sit through almost an hour of music and park video, but then as I began watching it, I found this format to be both very relaxing and enjoyable. Instead of having to talk over a narrator’s voice, with the fear of missing some important detail, you can just sit back, relax, and experience the wonders of nature. As we watched the program, my wife and I were able to talk to each other, recalling some of the places we had visited at Glacier National Park, as they came to life on the screen in front of us.
It is certainly hard for any DVD or movie to do justice to Glacier National Park, which in my opinion is the most beautiful national park in the lower 48 states. Having said that, Seasons of the National Parks: Glacier, which includes more than 150 photographs, does a very fine job of recreating the splendor and magnificent scenery of the park. Glacier is a large park, comprised of 1,600 square miles with elevations ranging from 3,150 up to over 10,000 feet at Mount Cleveland. And because the film’s photographer, George Ostrom, has hiked 10,000 miles and climbed half the 199 named peaks in the park, he was able to capture on film areas of the park where few people are able to visit.
The 59-minute program chronicles the park by season, with a roughly an equal amount of time devoted to spring, summer, fall and winter. This four-season coverage was one aspect of the video I especially enjoyed, given that my three trips to Glacier have been during the summer and early fall. From the video I was able to experience an entirely different Glacier in the winter and in the spring.
The video is formatted for continuous play, so you can opt to begin the program at a season of your choosing. I started off with springtime, observing images of wildflowers in full bloom and the sounds of rushing waterfalls and raging rivers caused by the melting snows. The wildlife, which is one of my favorite aspects of Glacier, is well represented in the video, with grizzly bears, deer, moose, marmots, mountain goats, bighorn sheep and other animals shown in their natural habitats. One interesting technique that was used in the video was to show a close-up image of a particular spot in the park and then to zoom out to offer a more panoramic view. A park like Glacier really lends itself well to this technique of filmmaking.
Summer at Glacier includes almost 19 hours of daylight and marks the end of the wildflower season. On the video you’re able to see how some patches of snow still linger at higher elevations, against a foreground of deep blue lakes and dramatic cliff walls. There are lots activities to enjoy at the park during the summer months, including hiking, boating, biking, camping, horseback riding and fishing. However, one of the aspects of the video that I appreciated was the exclusive focus on nature and the scenic wonders of the park, instead of focusing on facilities or human activity. This made it feel like I had the park entirely to myself.
George Ostom is able to capture amazing scenic vistas from atop mountain peaks, showing areas and perspectives of the park that you don’t normally see unless you are spending lots of time in the backcountry. He captures the splendid gold, orange, and red colors of the fall season, which begin at the higher elevations and work their way down to the forest floors. In winter, much of Glacier is inaccessible, but the video allows you to see the park as few have seen it, from the ice coated evergreen trees to the snows of Stanton Mountain reflected in the still waters of Lake McDonald.
I would wholeheartedly recommend this video. If you have been to Glacier, it will bring back memories of the scenic splendor of the park; if you haven’t been there, it will entice your senses and you’ll want to visit soon.
For further information on the Glacier National Park video or other videos in the Seasons of The National Parks series by Earth VideoWorks, visit their web site.
