8/20/2015 Avalanche and McDonald Lakes in Glacier National Park

Avalanche Lake Under Smokey Cloudy Skies

Sunday we get up early to hike Avalanche Trail which begins from the Trail of the Cedars.  The smell of this thick cedar forest is intoxicating.  The raging creek has cut deep bowls into the rock bed providing waterfalls along the way.  The forest is so thick and surrounding mountains so high that the sun is not shining here yet and it feels eerily primeval.   A few sign posts and heavily trodden path are the only reminders of humanity.  After

Debra Hanging Over Deep Ravine

about 2.5 miles of winding ups and downs gaining about 800 feet in elevation, is Avalanche Lake surrounded by mountains and waterfalls.  The lake is crystal clear and the glacial silt run off makes it a deep teal color.   John tried to meditate but large chipmunks climb up the rock he sits on and literally poke him in the sides looking for handouts.  He gives up once they start chewing on our backpack.  We hike another mile to the opposite end of the lake where melting glacial waterfalls create streams into the lake.  A perfectly challenging trail in length, rigor and oh-oh my, magnificent beauty.  You need to come visit now as they predict the numerous glaciers in this park will be gone by 2030 due to higher average temps.  A recent news report says July was the hottest month ever recorded.

It is easy to understand why Native American’s fought so hard between tribes and with the white man for these most sacred lands.  We learn from a talk we attended by a local Indian women studying native cultural preservation, that the local tribes still “hate each other”.  They need to get over it she says but doesn’t hold out much hope.  Glacier is where tribes came in summer for spiritual renewal and in winter to hunt buffalo, being too rugged for year-round living.  She tells of mental and physical abuse at church sponsored boarding schools her grandparent’s generation were forced to attend, resulting in inter-generational mental problems resulting in high levels of alcoholism, suicide, family and drug abuse.  

Back to the camper, we pack lunch and head a couple of miles from the campground to Hungry Horse Dam which is the 11^th largest cement dam in the U.S. built in the early 1950’s to control flooding and provide hyro-electric power.  At the end of the day John’s phone app shows we have hiked/walked over 10 miles today! We ice our knees and sleep like babies.

Lake MacDonald

 Really Cool Boat Camper

We extend our stay and move into the Park’s Apgar Campground on Lake McDonald.  To give our legs a brake we spend much of the next three days fishing and fish-aking (aka fishing from the kayak).  We don’t catch anything on 470 foot deep sapphire blue Lake McDonald but we do see a most unique boat camper.  Hard to believe this huge deep lake was dug out by an ancient glacier.  Many fires are still burning in and around the Park where smoke is ever present; sometimes light enough to see some blue sky and sometimes being so dense it stings eyes and makes breathing hard. 

Fantastic Bakery with Nick 

Driving up the Park’s remote western border to Polebridge to fish the North Fork River, we pick up a young back-packer to save him a 17 mile uphill hike.  In the middle of know-where is the locally famous Mercantile Bakery where we have incredibly delicious huckleberry bear claw pastry and buy huckleberry beer bread that we later make into yummy French toast.  Our backpacker, Nick just graduated from Johns Hopkins University and is applying to medical schools in between backpacking around Montana, Washington and Oregon.  John catches a white fish fly fishing in the North Fork and is reminded of a time when he was 18 years old fishing in Glacier on a family vacation.  John, his dad and Uncle were spread out along the river while Mom and sister Joan looked on from a nearby bridge.  The sound of rushing river water drowned out the girl’s alarming yelling and frantic arm waving in an attempt to alert John that a big grizzly was coming his way.   It veered off into the woods before reaching John.  He said he saw grizzly prints in the river but didn’t think it was still near by...... 

Deb and John Fishing McDonald Creek

We had a great day our last day in Glacier, hiking and fishing along McDonald Creek.  No catching but loved the hike where we saw several horse/mule trains and a couple of people floating at the base of one of the waterfalls.  After a few anxious moments, we noticed they weren't dead and had snorkel gear.  What the heck were they looking at down there?  Arrived back at the Campground to a Level 2 fire notice where high winds are expected overnight causing more smoke and possibly bigger fires.  Sure enough, we wake to thick smoke as we pack up and head to Pullman to visit Zoe.