Two Months...

Last year I spent the entire month of July photographing, bike touring, and backpacking the Northern Rockies from Glacier National Park through Jasper National Park, and it was amazing. I had planned to do it again this year from July 14th - August 14th, but delays at work forced me to cancel my trip. Most of you know that I am the staff photographer and also the web content manager for Rocky Mountain College in Billings, Montana; RMC is launching a new website and delays on the part of our design company and navigation consultant pushed us back by a few months, and my vacation was left to suffer. I needed to take a month off (150 hours) because we have a cap, but as I have been forced to abandon vacation I get to take it next year. Next year I'll have another four weeks that I "must" take, so that is two months of vacation and I really only have from the middle of June through the middle of August to use take the time off (this is two months paid vacation and after using two months I'll still have one month left over).

I know what you are thinking; "rub it in Dave... your life is so amazing..."
I am living the dream, or darn near it, but I do have a problem I can't decide what to do or where to go. The reason for this blog post is that I need your help deciding.

Let me start with some ground rules:

• Photography is king (Nature and Wildlife);
• Adventure is important;
• I do not like hot weather;
• I want to camp;
• I want my trips to be planned at the ideal time for my intended subject;
• I do not speak spanish;
• I need to keep costs relatively low, the next twelve months will be very expensive in terms of gear to buy (darn Canon's new super telephoto lenses and the new cameras that are coming out).

Some of my ideas:

• June 15th - July 7th camping on the coast of Katmai National Park followed by July 8th - July 15th camping in Brooks Camp;
• Repeat my trip to the Canadian Rockies from July 15th - August 15th;
• Find a girlfriend, who speaks Spanish (Chilean Spanish), and wants to spend two months backpacking in Torres del Paine National Park while acting as my translator (winter time);
• Drive the Dempster and/or Dalton highways for a month of birding (spring nesting season);
• Explore the Pacific Northwest and BC to see what I can find;
• Sit at home and edit my insane backlog of video and time lapse footage (that will be even worse by then);
• I wish I could take the end of August through September off and spend a month shoot fall from Denali through the Dalton Highway; but teaching/sports photography interferes with that plan.

I need you help with more ideas and thoughts on the ideas I have laid out here.

Thanks

p.s. Remember I am heading to Churchill to photograph Polar Bears in October this year, so...

p.s.s. Readers who are clients and editors... if you have some special place you need/want shot, let me know. I have already chatted with some of you about projects for next year, but if you come up with any others suggest away.

Glacier NP late June - July

Hello all, I need your help. You can email me at Dave_M_Shumway@yahoo.com or leave a comment here.

So I find it hard to drive up to Glacier with Yellowstone so very near.
That said I am going to take some time a visit glacier in the next few weeks.

The entire road is open this Thursday.

I was thinking about YNP this Saturday/Sunday (Trout), then Glacier for 5-7 days one of the next two weekends.

Is the traffic crazy over July 4th?

I would love any advice you have to share. We all know that I am all about photography. Landscapes with the new 5DII is one goal. Mountain Goats with Kids is my other must. Then the usual stuff falls inline.

I will camp.
I am more than willing to hike.
I have 9 weeks of vacation that I must burn over the next year so time is not a big issue.
I am leaving out of Billings, MT so I am only 5h30m from Browning, MT.

Any tips, thoughts, places to camp, places to hike, places to shoot critters, places/times to shoot landscapes, about anything would be greatly appreciated.

I have a few friends who have sent me some info and a few birding books and maps on the area but that really is it.

I feel a bit silly being such a tourist when it comes to Glacier, heck I know a ton more about the Canadian parks to the north than Glacier.

Thanks all