On July 9, 2016 Abby, Amber, Craig and I continued our exploration of Glacier National Park with 2 short hikes originating from Going to the Sun Road. On our walk around Trail of the Cedars we had marked the Avalanche Lake Trailhead as a must see. On this day we drove back to the Trail of the Cedars Trailhead to make our way to Avalanche Lake.
The forecast called for showers, maybe even thunderstorms. This helped us narrow our options to the two shorter trails instead of a longer jaunt into the back country. Once again we had to luck out for parking at this very popular trail head. We backtracked up Trail of the Cedars to the Avalanche Lake Trailhead and it was like a pilgrimage to Mecca as throngs of people pushed their way towards the Lake. This popular trail reminds me of the more popular waterfall hikes in my beloved Great Smokey Mountains National Park. Parking was at a premium and the tourists moved in a steady stream of prepared hikers and wide eyed tourists towards the natural shrine.
The trail was particularly crowded up around the gorge carved by the Glacier runoff. The churning waters coursed through the narrow gorge the sound of the water crashing over the Falls attesting to the power of the water. We followed Avalanche Creek towards the Lake.
The trail twisted up into the forest away from the creek and we made our way up some fairly steep stretches. The trees seemed to reach up towards the heavens, the canopy cover preventing sunlight from nourishing verdant undergrowth leaving the forest floor clean and open between the trunks.
We could see the Mountains rising up around us in breaks in the canopy and I snapped pictures wherever I could. We climbed then walked some fairly even terrain before we dipped back towards the Lake itself.
Avalanche Lake is stunning! Huge waterfalls fed by the Sperry Glacier pour down the mountain into the Lake itself. There were people scattered around the Lake. A Park Ranger was giving nature talks and answering questions. We spoke to her and took lots of pictures that didn’t quite capture what we saw. The sheer size and magesty of the landscape alone defy a snapshot. It is a living landscape and in the blink of an eye one’s attention is captured by something new.
The promised rains held off as we made our way back to our ride and we decided to do another short hike. We picked John’s Lake Loop as our next little adventure.
The 1.8 mile loop hike goes through old growth forest by John’s Lake. The view of John’s Lake is Hidden by the thick forest except for little peeks through the trees. There is a side path that takes one to the shore but the shore is muddy and the trees grow up to lakeside. It struck me when I saw the lake for the first time that it reminded me more of a large Farm pond complete with lily pads than an alpine lake. The surrounding mountain peaks and dense old growth hemlocks stripped the Farm pond analogy quickly from the mind. The hike to Johns Lake was not nearly as popular as Avalanche Lake.
We headed around the loop to cross Going to the Sun Road and follow Upper Lake McDonald Creek. We crossed a nice bridge and followed the well defined trail. There were benches to sit upon and admire the landscape. The waterfalls were spectacular. We admired them and recorded short videos and soaked in the natural beauty. Then it began to rain.
We hustled back to the car happy we had been able to enjoy our short hikes before the weather changed.
MrsSmithsLifeUnexpected 