Hiking in Glacier: Avalanche Lake

During our extended weekend away, Erik and I with his sister and her hubby managed to ditch all the kids with the grandparents and get away for a day to do a hike up in Glacier. We decided to do the one to Avalanche Lake since it's near the West entrance and short but scenic. 

In the beginning the trail is paved because it loops up with the Trail of the Cedars, which is handicap accessible.

 

But pretty quickly it veers off and you get a view of Avalanche creek almost immediately. The blue color from glacial flour is pretty cool and the way the water has carved the rock over the years is even cooler.

Erik with his sister and her hubby

Erik and I in front of the creek

The hike is shaded about 99% of the time and the forest growth is pretty impressive. 

Something even more impressive was a view of why the lake and hike has it's name. You could see an area on the hillside across a small valley where an avalanche had pushed down all the trees, but even more impressive was the fact that it was clear the avalanche had gone down the far hill, through the valley and up the hill to end right around near the trail. The trees were all plowed down through the whole path. That was some forceful avalanche for sure!

Erik at Avalanche Lake

Avalanche Lake

It was pretty cool to see so many waterfalls, I can't imagine what they look like a month ago with the runoff.

I asked Erik's sister and her hubby to pose for a picture and this is what they did. They are a couple of jokesters.

And a normal one!

The different colors and layers of rock in the hill were pretty cool

So it turns out I got to go hiking twice in Glacier this year, I'm a pretty lucky girl! :)