Our Third and Final Day at Glacier National Park

We were so grateful to Doris, the lady who checked us in at our motel in East Glacier, for her suggestions on how to see Glacier National Park. Her suggestion for our third day was to drive over to the western entrance to the Going to the Sun Highway and drive eastward to the road closure. Doris' other tips had proven to be well advised, so we followed her tip for this day, too. 

The western half of Going to the Sun is all paved and is without the sometimes harrowing driving conditions of the eastern half. It goes through thick forest and follows McDonald Lake much of the way. It was different from the eastern half of the road but just as beautiful in its own way. And there were no porta-potties involved.

At the road closure, there was a seven-tenths-of-a-mile loop trail through some large cedars. We decided a walk would do us good, so we started down the cedars trail. Halfway around the loop, another trail took off, going two miles up to Avalanche Lake. We hadn't planned on taking that one, but other hikers told us we shouldn't miss it.

So we finished the Cedars loop trail and returned to our van to eat some sandwiches for lunch and gather up some extra camera batteries and an extra tape for the camcorder, as well as water and snacks, and started the hike to Avalanche Lake. 

It took us a little over an hour to reach our destination, but it was a lovely spot. The lake itself wasn't quite what we had expected, but it was surrounded by mountains; and there were four waterfalls streaming down the mountain faces. The trail was, at times, difficult, especially considering that we flatlanders have few opportunities to practice uphill walking; but we were glad we had decided to make the trek.

This is a roadside waterfall that we found on our way to West Glacier.

These low-hanging clouds were beautiful against the green forests on the mountains.

McDonald Lake was graced by this low-hanging cloud.

A short trail led from Going to the Sun Highway to this waterfall.

Okay, so maybe I was a little obsessed with these clouds.

This was another pretty stream along Going to the Sun Highway.

This was a scene on the western half of the Going to the Sun Highway.

Avalanche Lake

I zoomed in a little on this shot, to show two of the four waterfalls at Avalanche Lake.

Toadstool (or mushroom) growing along the Avalanche Lake Trail

After our hike to Avalanche Lake, we had to retrace our route, which brought us again to McDonald Lake and this lovely scene:

Reflections in McDonald Lake

More Reflections in McDonald Lake

We had visited Glacier National Park in 1988, but we had spent only a day or a day and a half there. The weather had been cold and dreary, and Doug had been white knuckled and weak kneed as he drove the cliff-hanging Going to the Sun Highway. This visit was so different that it was as if it was the first time we'd ever been there. And it was so great that we look forward to going again some day.