Den & Kath's Vacation
'99 - Day 6
See
the day 6 map
The
recommendation we had received from the ranger on Thursday was a 2 mile hike
to Avalanche Lake. Because we had heard the ranger give the same recommendation
to several other people, we decided we better get an early start (again...).
The trail started out with a gentle climb through a beautiful cedar forest
along Avalanche Creek, which was your typical glacial runoff stream thundering
over house-sized boulders. When we had climbed past the cedars we were in moss-covered
pine forest, with enough breaks to see the sun climbing the peaks around us.
We got to Avalanche Lake in time to see the sunlight coming over the mountain
and streaming down to the edge of the lake. There was a lot of humidity in
the air which caused the most amazing light show. From the foot of Avalanche
Lake we could see four of the five waterfalls feeding into Avalanche Lake.
Though we hiked to the end of the trail, we couldn't see the fifth waterfall.
Instead of fighting through the woods to get to the waterfalls, we headed back
down the trail. On the way down, we met the ranger who had given us the recommendation
leading a group hike up the trail, proof that the rangers put their money where
their mouth is.
We
relaxed through mid-day on Friday, expecting that there would be a crowd in
the park. Late evening brought incredible light, so we went in search of some
pictures. We went part way up the Going-to-the-Sun Highway and found ourselves
nearly alone. Assuming that most people avoided the highway at night, we continued
on to Logan Pass. At nearly 10:00 at night we saw an amazing sunset from the
pass. The trip down provided as many views as ever, with enough light left
even at 10:00 to take pictures.
Go
to Day 7
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All images and
text ©1999 Dennis & Kathleen Deery
The
recommendation we had received from the ranger on Thursday was a 2 mile hike
to Avalanche Lake. Because we had heard the ranger give the same recommendation
to several other people, we decided we better get an early start (again...).
The trail started out with a gentle climb through a beautiful cedar forest
along Avalanche Creek, which was your typical glacial runoff stream thundering
over house-sized boulders. When we had climbed past the cedars we were in moss-covered
pine forest, with enough breaks to see the sun climbing the peaks around us.
We got to Avalanche Lake in time to see the sunlight coming over the mountain
and streaming down to the edge of the lake. There was a lot of humidity in
the air which caused the most amazing light show. From the foot of Avalanche
Lake we could see four of the five waterfalls feeding into Avalanche Lake.
Though we hiked to the end of the trail, we couldn't see the fifth waterfall.
Instead of fighting through the woods to get to the waterfalls, we headed back
down the trail. On the way down, we met the ranger who had given us the recommendation
leading a group hike up the trail, proof that the rangers put their money where
their mouth is.
