Our original plan was to take the boat rides over to the Grinnell Glacier hike, but last night when we were at Tamarack Brewing Company, I was smart enough to remember to check for trail closures. The smarter person in me should have checked this much earlier in the day, but oh well. It turns out the Grinell Glacier hike was not closed, but park rangers did not recommend travel on it because it still has a ton of snow. Well crap, there goes $80 in boat rides down the drain. The only other hike to do after the boat rides is one we've already done before (to Grinnell Lake) and I really wanted to see something different. So we called and left a message last night hoping they show mercy on us and give us a refund, but we haven't heard yet. Instead, we hiked to Avalanche Lake on the west side of the park, since that was close to where we were staying last night. This was a great hike and I'm so glad we did it! It starts off on the Trail of the Cedars, which itself is a loop hike that is very short and mostly a boardwalk. The highlight of Trail of the Cedars is the stop at Avalanche Gorge which is a beautiful turquoise color surrounded by a lush forest. The hike to Avalanche Lake starts just beyond the gorge overlook, and it starts by traveling along more of the gorge, which was so pretty. Check out the pictures below.
The Avalanche Lake hike is just under 2.5 miles one-way, and even though it only gains 500 feet in elevation, the whole way to the lake feels uphill. They way back is MUCH easier! Also, it's a very rocky hike, so have poles with you if you have trouble staying upright like me. This time, my poles were not secured in the car and they came in handy quite a bit! Besides the uphill and it being a rocky trail, you do hike in shade the entire time which is a plus if it is hot out. Along the way, you'll see evidence of a few avalanches, one most recently in 2011 (this one is about halfway to the lake). Even though it was a cloudy morning, the lake was still breathtaking!
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| Avalanche Lake |
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| Looking down Avalanche Gorge |
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| Looking up Avalanche Gorge - the water is really that pretty shade of blue! |
After Avalanche Lake, we drove all of Going to the Sun Road so we could head over to the Two Medicine area to hike to a waterfall. On the way there, we saw a momma mountain goat and her baby, and a bear.
The hike we did in the Two Medicine area was to Appistoki Falls, which is only 1.2 miles round-trip and gains about 260 feet in elevation. This hike was kind of lame. When you first see the falls, that's it - that's the best view you're going to get of them. We kept going a little longer on the trail thinking we'd get a better view of them, but it was a lot more uphill and didn't get any better. You can continue on this hike to Scenic Point, but that would be a 6-mile round-trip hike and it was already pretty late in the day for us.
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| The best view you get of Appistoki Falls |
Tonight we're staying in the Rising Sun area (near St. Mary's). On our way back in at the St. Mary's Visitor Center, we noticed an "animal jam" of some sort, so we stopped. We found out that we had just missed a momma moose and two calves crossing the river. Dang it! Do you know how much I've been wanting to see a moose on this trip and the two other times we've come to Glacier?!? Well, just believe me when I say that I really want to see one...bad...really bad.
That's pretty much our day. I guess I should include the sampler we had at Tamarack Brewing last night for Steve's birthday. We stop at this brewery every time we come to Glacier. It's on the way to the park and it's delicious beer and food.
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| Tamarack Sampler |
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