Avalanche chute in Glacier National Park, Montana by Lisa McKeon

These avalanche chutes in Glacier National Park are still melting out from the high snowpack of the previous winter. Chutes like this are a prominent part of the landscape and the openings that the avalanches create provide good forage grounds for grizzly bears (and an occasional goat carcass in the avalanche debris). Look closely... The rocky cliffs at the top of the photo may be hiding some wiley mountain goats too.

While not exactly my own backyard, this image was taken along Going to the Sun Road in Glacier National Park. Those of us who live and work in the park consider it our "backyard", since it is our favorite place to recreate and explore, and just a short distance from our home. My daughters and I reached this location by bicycle, and saw two pairs of harlequin ducks in the swift, murky waters of McDonald Creek. Sorry I couldn't get them in the photo too.