The Seattle Pearl Jam shows have concluded with the next show in Missoula, Montana. Since Glacier National Park (GNP) is only two hours north of Missoula, we loaded up a van and headed that way! We only had one day to explore Glacier but we covered a lot of ground.
We had a kickass airbnb in Columbia Falls, a little town outside of GNP. There were several bedrooms, a pool table, musical instruments and a large dining room table for conversing. Alarms went off at 6 am because early bird gets the worm right?! It was a short thirty minute drive to the park entrance. The morning was brisk but the sun came up and shined lovely rays of vitamin D along the mountain side; waking up the trees and flowers.
Going To The Sun Road leads you on a scenic journey throughout the Rocky Mountains within Glacier National Park. It does have two-way traffic despite being narrow with several switchbacks. There are numerous pull off opportunities with beautiful landscape. Most seemed to be looking down into the gullies full of colorful flowers and small streams.
Our first stop was the Logan Pass Visitor Center. Apparently we didn’t wake up early enough because we could not find any parking! We were really looking forward to hiking the Hidden Trail to Hidden Lake but without parking, that was impossible. My advice is to show up early because there are rangers monitoring the lot ensuring that no one parks along the curb or in bus parking spots. Several people parked along the road but I’m gonna be honest and say that looked tiresome and miserable. We decided to make the most of our time and continued on towards Sun Point Nature Trail. The trail was easy and led you to the small but beautiful Baring Falls.
If you continue on past Baring Falls you’ll eventually reach the beach of Saint Mary Lake. I stood there for a few moments to soak in the silence. Such a gorgeous, peaceful view. The water was smacking lightly against the dock causing some water to splash onto the surface. The ripples in the luminous, turquoise water were hit with the sun causing a glistening effect.
After regrouping we continued traveling down Going To The Sun Road towards Rising Sun. Check out this beautiful view of Saint Mary Lake!! The shades of turquoise depend solely on the sun.
After Rising Sun we flipped a uey and made our way back towards the visitor center. Unfortunately the parking lot was still full meaning Hidden Trail was not going to happen for us. We continued on to the northern tip of McDonald Lake called McDonald Falls. This reminded me a lot of the swimming holes in Austin. The water was of course crystal clear with enormous rocks for sunbathing. The bottom of the swimming hole displayed an array of colorful rocks. This was the perfect spot for lunch as we watched Alfredo and a few others jump into the water. I walked across and regretted my decision immediately! The water was FREEZING. All I could think about were my toes literally falling off from becoming necrotic.
Our final stop began at the Trail of the Cedars Nature Trail, a one-mile loop that’s wheelchair acessible. This led us to the Avalanche Gorge Footbridge where the Avalanche Trail began. This was a moderate 5.7 mile hike through the forest towards Avalanche Lake. With it being late afternoon, the sun was starting to set and it left orange rays along the forest path.
As you exit the forest you’re stunned by the marvelous view of Avalanche Lake. The three waterfalls that supply the lake are visible even from the farthest corner. It actually took us a while to realize we could walk closer to the lake because we were all in a daze.
Sadly, as we were leaving Glacier the skies were covered in smoke. The forest across Lake McDonald was in flames. Once we got back to the airbnb we discovered that the fire started from strikes of lightning!
