Miles 99 (1,426)
Two Lanes 99 (1,175)
Top down 99 (1,301)
We awoke to a fine breakfast by our hostess: Kentucky Brown….. Rich and filling. We drove off to the north end of Flathead Lake. 35 miles long and 15 miles wide , it is the largest naturally occurring body of fresh water in the West. We then turned north to Kalispell and Whitefish.
In Kalispell, we stopped and bought two elk steaks and a pound of bison burger. These would be dinners in the next three to four nights.
Whitefish was a delightful town, a mixture of upscale art galleries, quilt shops, coffee houses, and breweries, along with a ski area and a original early 20th century Great Northern Railroad Depot. The depot is still used by Amtrak. It is unlike any otheramtrak depot I have seen: clean, with polished curved backed classic railroad benches.
Then to Glacier National Park through the west entrance. This year Glacier is celebrating its centennial, 1910-2010. We drove up to Lake McDonald Lodge where we had made a reservation 9 months ago. The lodge was built in 1913, and is only slightly modernized. The open air cedar posted and beamed lobby is original. The bark is still on the cedar and the room is decorated extensively with animal trophy heads shot by its first owner.
After checking in we drove 6 miles up the road to the Avalanche Lake trailhead. The road is closed here and will not open over Going to the Sun Pass for another 10 days or so.
If you a bored with your current career, you could always apply for this job with the park service. The pay is good, and you get most of the year off. (Cut and paste this link to your browser....... it's pretty 'cool' stuff!)
http://www.nps.gov/glac/photosmultimedia/plowing%2Dthe%2Dgoing%2Dto%2Dthe%2Dsun%2Droad%2D2010%2Ehtm?eid=441968&aId=701&root_aid=701&sort=title&startRow=193#e_441968"
We parked and hiked up the two mile trail (500 feet of elevation rise) along Avalanche Creek to Avalanche Lake. On the other side of the creek high up on the rocky precipices, Linda spotted mountain goats. She confirmed the sighting with her binoculars. We watched as they ate, then they saw as they jumped down to the next ledge. I suspect a bit of Darwinsism is at play here. The clumsy genes are not passed on!
As we arrived at Avalanche Lake we were met with a glorious site, The clouds were all gone. We were looking at lake fed by three visible waterfalls. The lake lay in the bottom of a glacial cirque, surrounded by mountains whose crests ridges looked sharp enough to cut a whole on the sky.
After saturating our souls for a while, we hiked back down through the red cedar temperate rain forest, then drove back to the hotel, cleaned up and had dinner. Now it is time to rest for what Linda has planned of us tomorrow, an 8 mile hike.
Lake McDonald
Avalanche Lake
Lake McDonald Lodge
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