A selection of 2020's best photos by Flathead Beacon Media Director Hunter D'Antuono. This year's revolution around the sun proved a tumultuous one, with the globe beset by a pandemic along with political and social turbulence. But dependable patches of beauty and compassion shone through — the bluebirds still sang in the spring, the larches still turned gold in the fall and people still connected, even if from a few paces away.
Hunter D'Antuono
Hundreds dive into the new decade with a frigid dip into Flathead Lake for the 26th annual Polar Bear Plunge at The Raven in Woods Bay on Jan. 1, 2020. Hunter D’Antuono | Flathead Beacon
The Orion constellation rises over a windmill west of Kalispell on Jan. 19, 2020.
An aerial view about 100 feet over ice formations on McGregor Lake outside of Marion on March 15, 2020. Hunter D’Antuono | Flathead Beacon
Neon in downtown Kalispell as seen on a balmy February evening. Hunter D’Antuono | Flathead Beacon
Traffic is light in downtown Whitefish on Friday evening after the announcement of two confirmed novel coronavirus cases in Flathead County on March 20, 2020. Hunter D'Antuono | Flathead Beacon
Bread shelves grow bare at Safeway in Whitefish on March 15, 2020 as COVID-19 spreads across the United States and Montana. Hunter D’Antuono | Flathead Beacon
The Montana National Guard began screening arriving passengers for symptoms of COVID-19 at Glacier Park International Airport in Kalispell on April 3, 2020. Hunter D’Antuono | Flathead Beacon
Hudson Ramlow participates in a protest in front of Kalispell City Hall on April 6, 2020. About 30 people gathered to protest part of a new ordinance put forth by the City of Kalispell. Ordinance 1840 is a state-of-emergency ordinance that granted the Kalispell city manager the authority to direct law enforcement to enforce quarantines or curfews, among other measures, in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. Hunter D'Antuono | Flathead Beacon
A mountain bluebird perches on a shrub in Batavia west of Kalispell on April 10, 2020. Hunter D’Antuono | Flathead Beacon
Downtown Kalispell experienced bumper-to-bumper traffic during “Kruise Kalispell,” a car parade organized on Facebook through a page of the same name on April 17, 2020. Hunter D’Antuono | Flathead Beacon
Whitefish Lake at dusk on April 24, 2020. Hunter D’Antuono | Flathead Beacon
Gov. Steve Bullock, left, tours a temporary COVID-19 patient care facility under construction by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on the top floor of Montana Children’s hospital at Kalispell Regional Healthcare in Kalispell on May 21, 2020. The facility is designed to house overflow patients in the event of a surge in COVID-19. Hunter D’Antuono | Flathead Beacon
Flathead High School’s graduation ceremony at Legends Stadium in Kalispell on May 29, 2020. Students sat in spaced-out chairs and guest attendance was limited in accordance with COVID-19 health precautions. Hunter D’Antuono | Flathead Beacon
Two men get in a verbal scuffle in Depot Park in Kalispell. Hundreds congregated in downtown Kalispell to denounce police violence against people of color on June 6, 2020. Nationwide protests were sparked after George Floyd, a black man, died after being pinned to the street by police officers in Minneapolis on May 25, 2020. Hunter D’Antuono | Flathead Beacon
Cyclist Omar Husain rides through the spray of The Weeping Wall on Going-to-the-Sun Road in Glacier National Park on June 20, 2020. Hunter D’Antuono | Flathead Beacon
Medical staff package a nasal swab during a COVID-19 testing event at Polson High School on June 19, 2020. Beacon File Photo
Andrew Phillips of Kalispell tackles a steer in the chute dogging event at the Brash Rodeo in Columbia Falls on June 25, 2020. He took first place. Hunter D’Antuono | Flathead Beacon
Comet NEOWISE appears in the northwestern sky over Little Bitterroot Lake in Marion on July 15, 2020. Hunter D’Antuono | Flathead Beacon
Michael Atherton of The David Walburn Duo performs at the Gunsight Saloon in Columbia Falls on August 30, 2020. Hunter D’Antuono | Flathead Beacon
Hikers on the Hidden Lake Trail on July 13, 2020 in Glacier National Park. Hunter D’Antuono | Flathead Beacon
A gastropod shell, bleached by the sun, rests in dried-up wetlands in the Smith Valley west of Kalispell on Sept 27, 2020. Hunter D’Antuono | Flathead Beacon
Dave August waves at passing traffic wearing a Donald Trump mask at a small rally at Depot Park in downtown Kalispell on Oct. 31, 2020. Hunter D’Antuono | Flathead Beacon
Autumn larch along Tally Lake Road on Nov. 1, 2020. Hunter D’Antuono | Flathead Beacon
J.R. Isles, program manager for the Agency on Aging’s Meals on Wheels program, receives a hug from Rodessa Norton after delivering food to her home on Nov. 6, 2020. Hunter D’Antuono | Flathead Beacon
Tobias Warren, age 3, high fives charge nurse Emily Casey through the glass door of his room at Montana Children’s hospital on Nov. 17, 2020. Warren developed multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) after contracting COVID-19. The condition is very rare, but it left Warren critically ill and hospitalized for 10 days. Hunter D’Antuono | Flathead Beacon
Uphill skiers at Whitefish Mountain Resort on Dec. 3, 2020. Hunter D’Antuono | Flathead Beacon
