We are in Montana. This is the 7th state we have been to on this journey and the first state we haven't been to before.
We arrived yesterday morning. About 2 hours later we saw our first black bear crossing the road! This is a beautiful area. There is still plenty of snow on the mountains.
Black Bear
Lake McDonald
July 8, 2010
We got to the Avalanche Lake Trail about 6:30 this morning. It's nice to get out early and beat the crowds. It's a beautiful hike that climbs through a forest of giant red cedar and western hemlock. The trail parallels the creek to the lake (round trip 5 miles. There is a cliff about 3000 feet above the lake that still has quite a bit of snow and many fabulous waterfalls including Monument Falls. Avalanche Lake is a beautiful blue color that comes from 'glacial flour'. The guide book says: "Glacial flour comes into the lake from Sperry Glacier”. It describes glacial flour as "rock which has been pulverized to a fine powder by the action of a glacier."
Avalanche Gorge
Avalanche Creek along the hiking trail.
Avalanche Lake.
Many waterfalls flowing into Avalanche Lake.
On the way back to the truck we took the Trail of the Cedars Nature Trail. The cedars are very large. The whole area reminded us of Oregon.
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