2 October 2016
I have hiked a lot in 66 years and I can’t think of a hike I enjoyed more than the one today to Avalanche lake via Avalanche Creek and Avalanche Gorge. It is considered the most popular hike in Glacier and I can understand why.
I got going around 8:30 am by defrosting the ice off the car and heading to Whitefish for breakfast at Loula’s right as you get into town on highway 93. It’s in the basement of what looks like an old bank building. Whitefish is a neat town where the downtown section never died.
It’s an 18 mile trip to the west entrance of Glacier from Whitefish and then another 12 miles to the Avalanche parking lot. There weren’t that many cars there at 10:15 am, so I headed out for the Cedars Loop part of the trail which leads to Avalanche Lake.
No sooner had I started than I ran into a closed trail sign. Fortunately, it was only one part of the loop that was closed for renovation and I started at the exit point and walked the boardwalk for the Cedars Loop. The loop is so named for the huge Western Red Cedars found in this section along Avalanche Creek. This part of the trail was approximately 0.4 miles and is wheel chair accessible.
Once you get to the midway point of Cedars loop, you have this wonderful viewpoint of Avalanche Gorge. It is not a large gorge but the water rushing through is impressive.
From that point, you can opt to return or continue along the Avalanche Lake trail, approximately 2.0 miles to the lake. The trail is pretty much uphill from that point on until you drop down on the lake. The good news is the trail is well designed with manageable switchbacks. Either that or I am finally getting into shape.
Your pathway is through another temperate rainforest. This one is actually how I pictured a rainforest to be and the understory was rich in mosses, ferns, lichens, clubmosses, and an olio of other plants. I was in heaven.
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Too many years go, I read a book for young adults (we were called juveniles then) called Freckles by Gene Stratton-Porter. The story is set in the Limberlost Swamps of Indiana where Freckles, who is missing one hand, is hired to protect the tall timber from timber thieves. He refers to his charges as his cathedral. That’s akin to how I felt today, walking through nature’s cathedral.
Enough of the religious references! I arrived at the glaciceral lake and it was quite ordinary at the point you exit the trail. However, if you continue walking around the lake (approximately 0.7 mile) you reach the area of Glacier runoff into the lake. It seems the lake is fed by three waterfalls which you can see of in the distance. The waterfalls look tiny when you see them but you can hear the roar of water as it comes off the mountain. In reality, the vastness of the mountain diminishes your perception of the waterfalls.
I had lunch lakeside (granola-like bar that Holley had given me) and met a couple from Missoula, Montana and another couple from Spokane, Washington.
It was then back down the trail, thankfully mostly downhill to the car. I stopped a couple of other places on the “Going to the Sun” road for photos and then headed back to Whitefish. I stopped in Columbia Falls for diesel fuel and a car wash. The jeep looked a sorry state from all the road mud and the layers of bugs that were plastered to the front and windshield. It took about $6 of quarters to get it cleaner.
I then stopped in Whitefish at a local grocery to purchase Windex, paper towels, and a scrubbing sponge to get off the rest of the stubborn bugs. I also needed to clean the inside of the windows because there was a film build up that caused a glare when you were heading into the sun.
Dinner tonight was at La Cocina Feliz, a good place for tamales. Desert was at Sweet Peaks ice cream parlor. I kept the Mexican theme with Mexican dark chocolate which had more than a hint of jalapeño in it.
Tomorrow is a six plus hour drive to Chico Hot Springs in Pray, Montana (again with the religious theme). I’ve stayed here before, January two years ago. I’ll be sure to dip into the hot springs again.
