Avalanche Lake. The Hard Way.

Avalanche Lake is a favorite of the Lake McDonald Valley. Why? Well, it’s only a couple of miles from the Lodge. The trailhead is next to a campground that holds literally hundreds of people. It is basically one of the few easy hikes (at 2.0 miles one way with a couple of hundred feet of gain) until the Going to the Sun Road opens (in another month and a half). Lastly, is not that bad. Not stellar, but good for most tourists who want to see some snow and waterfalls.

So, the hard way is to take the back trails directly out of the Lodge parking lot. It turns this little car tourist hike into a 16.5-mile monster day hike with over 2,000 feet of gain. Saves you from fighting for a parking spot. And make for a good first day of the season. And since this is a week of classroom training, it’s ok to be a little sore.

The first 1.5 miles are on the rutted horse trail. Ick. But wait….

The horses don’t arrive for another couple of weeks. So as long as I watch my toes, it is not so bad so early in the season.

I came across a bunch of mountain goat fur. Hmmmm…. I’ve never heard of those guys shedding their winter coats in mid-May. That’s a late June/July thing.

And then I found out this wasn’t a spring shedding. This is what I think I’ll call the little fellow’s ‘final’ shedding.

John’s Lake is small, muddy, icky, not attractive (by Glacier standards), and really buggy in another month. I could have sworn I heard Canadian geese landing/lifting off from the calm waters. I’ve never heard of geese in any part of the park before. Maybe it was just my ears? Or another early-season thing?

A mile later I had my answer. I’ve ripped many a hole in a down sleeping back or jacket thru my many years of backpacking. And I can tell you this: that was an ENTIRE goose. Apparently, the feathers aren’t that tasty to the predators of the forest.

Once you clear John’s Lake, this is this no-mans-zone of 3.8 miles that no one ever hikes. It’s all forest, quiet, and for the most part peaceful. Not really my thing, given all the hiking I’ve done in the rain forests of WA state.

But it is kind of refreshing. This trail could really be anywhere in the PNW. But it’s not. It’s in Glacier National Park. And one of the few places you can avoid the millions of visitors who are too lazy to hike it and want to fight for a parking spot at the A-Lake trailhead.

A little something for everyone if you want to look. Again, reminds me of times on the Washington state coast. Cedars and ferns and moss. But quite a bit dryer.

I found this cable marker funny. It’s a good 200 yards from the road. The logo is from a couple of decades before Ma Bell was split up because of monopoly concerns about 1980. Do you really think that the telephone wire laid in the 1950s still has a purpose?

A rare view of shafts of sunlight on Avalanche Creek without a million tourists milling around.

Early season waterfall coming off the southern slopes of Mt Cannon.

Avalanche Lake is still showing a good dose of early-season snow. All of these waterfalls are spilling off of Sperry Glacier, way up in that high bowl to the left of the center.

The lake was really high and not a lot of shoreline was exposed. Maybe a dozen and a half people milling around. Of course, I was there mid-morning. On an average day in the summer season, there will be over 200 people crowing this wonderful shore.

On the return trip, I got a peek of Mt Vaught thru the trees. The trail was in really good shape. All the snow is gone. I was walking on the still rotting leaves of last fall. And the brush has not come in yet. Wide open and easy traveling.

Now this small rise means nothing to you. Until you know that ten seconds before this picture there was a young adult grizzly flying up it to avoid me. I saw the hump, his brown ass, the cute little Eeyore tail, and the bottom pads of all four paws. That fellow was really moving.

Less than a mile later, I scared a medium-sized black bear. He ran dead center into that brush and stopped. Waiting for me to keep on moving. Not moving a muscle.

So, I can say my curiosity about bears has been satisfied for the season. The last miles got a little long and my feet were sore as they usually are with a double-digit day. Finished up in under six hours. Enough time to shower, suck down some electrolytes, lay down for a little stretch, and munch on some dinner while I write this post.

The employee cafeteria is really the best Wi-Fi. It doesn’t suck as much as last year, but the full staff hasn’t come on either. Not the J1 Foreign Student Visa students. My how they love to stream anime for hours on end. Not much into hiking.

Good start to the 2023 season. GoatBoy out!