Pine Creek Lake

Black Mountain and Pine Creek Outlet Falls at sunset

Pine Creek Outlet Falls

Gaillardia, aka blanketflower in July near Pine Creek Lake, Montana

Glacier Lillies in July at Pine Creek Lake, Absaroka Mountains, Montana

Glacier Lilly in July at Pine Creek Lake, Absaroka Mountains, Montana

Gaillardia, aka blanketflower in July near Pine Creek Lake, Montana

Early morning reflection in Pine Creek Lake

Early morning image of Pine Creek outlet falls and alpenglow on Black Mountain

Pine Creek Lake is an alpine jewel nestled in a glacial cirque accessed about fifteen miles south of Livingston, Montana in the Absaroka Mountains .

The moderately difficult hike goes past beautiful Pine Creek Falls at the first mile.  This is far enough for most casual hikers since the trail then steepens to gain over 3,000 feet elevation in the last four miles. Of course, the wildflowers, cascading stream, and open scenery is so amazing, one might just forget about the difficulty of the hike.

The lake is a popular youth-camp destination, but overnighting on a weekday meant we basically had the lake’s one good camp spot and all of the its surrounding beauty to ourselves.  The most obvious photo op is at the outlet falls just below the lake, where I made a few successful compositions at sundown and early the next morning.