August 1-2, 2016, Hike Avalanche Lake Trail, Glacier National Park, Lake Macdonald, Heading to Missoula, MT

August 1-2, 2016, Hike Avalanche Lake Trail, Glacier National Park, Heading to Missoula, MT

Monday August 1 back up to Glacier National Park and a hike on the Avalanche Lake Trail. Glacier has some excellent medium level trails for us regular folks. The easiest trail right on the Going-to-the-Sun road is the Cedar Creek Trail. It is ADA assailable and an easy walk. Mostly all a wood ramp. Off that trail is the Avalanche Lake Trail which is about 1.9 miles long and goes up about 500 feet to Avalanche Lake. A beautiful high lake at Glacier. The main issue with these trails is that there isn't enough parking and you have to get there pretty early to grab a spot. If you miss the available spots there is a more challenging area just past it. That is where we ended up. It is a little scary for your car because it has to sit at quite an angle. See the picture below. But the Subaru did a great job and using low gear came right out.

The trail is pretty cool and we made it ok even for us out of shape folks. Heather had no problem and Louise and I both had walking poles which really helped. The lake is worth the effort. This is a very popular trail with tons of people going up and down. We tried to go further around the lake but were stopped because it was closed because of bears. Going down was much easier than going up. It takes about 1.5 hours up and 1 hour down.

After Avalanche we stopped by Lake MacDonald for lunch. This lake is one of the first things you see as you drive along the Sun road.

Back to Kalispell and dinner, Heather and I went and saw the new Jason Borne movie in the evening. Excellent day but a little sore on knees and legs.

August 2, is a travel day. Heather heads back east and we head south to get back on the Lewis & Clark Trail and head west. In the morning we visited the Hockaday Museum in Kalispell. It had a nice collection of Montana artists and a permanent exhibit of focusing on local culture. Then on the road. Lunch was back in Bigfork, again we keep coming back here. Staying on the Missoula/Lolo border.

Heather giving a thumbs up and a hashtag #Subaru

The car looks a little more precarious in this picture

The stream coming down from Avalanche Lake

Heather and Louise on the trail, a little cooler at the beginning

Avalanche Lake, it is beautiful high mountain lake.

This is a popular hike and there were a lot of people

Bruce and Louise pose at the Avalanche Lake

Along the Avalanche Lake Trail, Glacier National Park

Lake MacDonald, Glacier National Park, great place for a picnic.

Bruce, Heather and Louise at Avalanche Lake

Lewis & Clark in Salish Territory, historical marker