After the most incredibly scenic drive from Yellowstone to East Glacier, we parked just outside the boundary of Glacier National Park to catch up on work for a few days. After arriving at our free campsite at the end of a dirt road, Tom followed a little path towards a clearing and discovered a campfire that was left burning! It had spread to almost 8 feet in diameter!!! We brought what water we had to the fire and stirred it repeatedly to try to extinguish it, but we simply did not have the quantity of water necessary to complete the job to our satisfaction.
Tom called the local non-emergency phone number and the volunteer firefighters showed up quickly, and soon the fire was out. A law enforcement detective ranger followed the firefighters out to investigate the scene. He reviewed the contents of multiple trash bags left behind, presumably from the same person who also left their fire behind. He interviewed other campers who were able to provide descriptive information, and lastly interviewed us. Since we arrived after the previous camper left, we didn’t have many leads for him, and the interview quickly deteriorated into sharing backwoods stories. He gave us a long list of places to go (and places to eat) across the U.S., which we eagerly received.
Day 1 | Glacier National Park
Glacier National Park requires permits to drive on the main park roads between 6 AM and 3 PM. One permit is needed for each road, and you can only have one per day. They issue the permits far in advance, or at 7 PM the night before. I felt that this was pretty inconvenient – what if we couldn’t get one? Luckily we were able to get permits on our second attempt, so it didn’t create a problem for us.
After all the fuss to get our permit to access the park, we were surprised how short a line there was at the park entry when we arrived early the next morning. But the parking lot for our hike’s trailhead? A totally different story, it was almost entirely full! Tom was able to squeeze into one of the last spots, thank goodness.
Avalanche Lake Trail
Our first hike of the day was the ~6 mile out-and-back Avalanche Lake Trail. It has an elevation gain of less than 1,000 feet, and was fairly easy. The terrain was rocky, filled with twisted roots, and at times muddy from the rain the day before.
The trailhead was immediately after the parking area, and we weren’t on the trail for long before we were treated with views of a rushing stream funneled through a tight, deep chasm. Wow! We were amazed by the power of the glacial melt as it rushed through and cascaded over Avalanche Gorge.
Avalanche Lake is nestled in the Lake McDonald Valley, the easternmost area in the United States where you can find either red cedar or hemlock trees. Travel any further east and you’ll notice the climate shifts away from that found in the Pacific Northwest.
The humid climate of Lake McDonald Valley facilitates the growth of massive red cedars, which can soar up to one hundred feet tall and seven feet wide. Some of the giants in these dense forests were likely just saplings back in the early 1500’s.
We caught our first glimpse of Avalanche Lake through the tree cover, and followed a narrow trail to its shore. As we stepped out from the treeline, we were pleasantly surprised to find ourselves on a rather expansive beach! There were several occupied rough-hewn benches, and many other visitors. We decided to carry on to the far side of the lake, in hopes of a little quiet.
Some hikers might be disappointed that they didn’t get the mountainous views typical of Glacier National Park, but I personally love a foggy, misty, or stormy day. It’s great for photography! The lake was almost still enough for a perfect reflection. Unfortunately there was an adult that was repeatedly throwing handfuls of dirt into the water, but it’s not like I had reserved the lake just for myself, so we moved on further down the trail.
At the end of the lake, we noticed several narrow but tall waterfalls – hundreds of feet tall! Although we couldn’t see Sperry Glacier from the lake, we had read that was the source of these vast waterfalls.
Trail of the Cedars
The Trail of the Cedars was a short ~1 mile boardwalked loop that we couldn’t resist since our previous hike intersected with it. No regrets! We enjoyed immensely the lower viewpoint of Avalanche Gorge, many small waterfalls, and of course the towering cedar trees.
As an added bonus, we had a third passenger for some of our trip through Montana – this beautiful Orb Weaver.
Although we enjoyed the nature the best we could, our experience was definitely diminished by over-perfumed, rambunctious crowds of other visitors.
