A Troll in the Woods: Glacier 2016 - Part 2 - Avalanche Lake and MacDonald Creek

Glacier is full of hikes to do - even though most of the park is backcountry and away from where cars can easily get. We only had 6 days total in the park, so no backpacking, and we generally stuck to the areas that the shuttle bus ran. The park has a set of shuttle busses that run from the visitor centers up to Logan Pass, with stops along the way at different trailheads. Using the bus is much easier than trying to park (none of the trailheads have much parking) - but in July there also are crowds that overwhelm the bus system - we got off to a late start on day 2, and ended up with a 1.5 hour wait for a spot on a bus. Once we were on the way, we got off at the Avalanche parking lot and ate lunch. The parking lot was full, with a good number of people driving slowly to try and find a spot. Since the parking area served a picnic area and two different trails there were a lot of cars in the lot already. The road to this point follows McDonald creek, so the kids worked on skipping stones for a little after lunch.

After lunch we started on the 'Trail of the Cedars' trail, which takes a short loop through a stand of cedar trees, and then connects with the Avalanche lake trail. The trail to Avalanche lake is about 2 miles each way, and generally follows Avalanche creek through a valley to the lake. At the point where the Avalanche Lake trail starts, the creek is going through a gorge about 40 feet deep and maybe 4 feet wide, with a lot of water rushing through and cascading over the rocks. Some mist with rainbows, some nicely rounded gorge walls from years of water pouring through.

Even above the gorge, the water was moving pretty fast with numerous rapids along the way. After 2 miles or so we reached the lake - the trail is relatively flat. The lake drains a glacier and a number of ice fields in the mountains on the far side of the lake. The water in the lake, like all of the lakes and creeks in the park, is a beautiful aquamarine color, from the sediment suspended in the water.

After some time skipping stones in the lake, we headed back and found our way back to the campsite.

The next day was a little different. On the way out of the campground we came upon a doe and two fawns on the side of the road - not too concerned about our car. One stood still long enough for a picture - Mom was already a ways down the road.

Wednesday we rented 2 canoes and went on an adventure across the lake. Going out was easy - the wind was at our backs and we crossed in about 20 minutes. The return trip, though, was a bit more challenging as we had to head into the wind, with 6-12 inch waves - the return was about an hour.

After lunch at the shore of the lake, we drove to the east end of the lake and started hiking up the creek a little bit, knowing that there were some waterfalls along the way. This was about a 3 mile hike all told, with the promised cascades, and we turned around at a point where the creek widened out into a set of pools - complete with a swan swimming in one of the pools.