A Day's Dip into Glacier National Park!

More 2021 Adventures

Whitefish, MT → Avalanche Falls, MT → Whitefish, MT
99.2 mi (159.6 km)

Welcome to Glacier, everyone!

It’s the gem of the Treasure State, part of the world’s first International Peace Park, and an all around gorgeous place. It’s Glacier National Park, and today, after my good friends picked me up in Missoula, we’re getting a taste of some of its beauty!

Since it was late in the day and pretty cloudy, we decided to do a light stroll along the boardwalks of the Trail of the Cedars, the last parking spot before the famous Going-to-the-Sun Road!

Here along the Trail of the Cedars is a very unique ecosystem, which has more in common with the Pacific Northwest than the rest of the Rockies! Here, we found enormous western red cedar trees, just like the ones in the Hoh Rainforest, and western hemlocks to boot! Though they’re both western, this is the furthest east that they can grow, and some of them are over 500 years old!

If the Trail of the Cedars were a ring, then Avalanche Falls would be its jewel! Photos really can’t capture the incredible turquoise color of the water and the lushness of the ferns growing along the artistically carved stone! This pretty color comes from glacial silt that runs into Avalanche Creek and reflects sunlight to look green!

It was going to take a little too long to trek all the way to Avalanche lake, so instead, we headed to the shore of Lake McDonald, the largest and deepest lake in the park, pulled out some snacks, and enjoyed the peace and quiet of nature! Lake McDonald is famous for its clarity, which is pretty common throughout the park. That’s because the water is super cold and high in minerals, which makes it hard for algae and plankton to take hold. It makes for some lovely photos though!

So we had a nice taste of the park today, but tomorrow, thanks to some luck with the timed entry requirements, we’re going to take a big ol’ bite on the Going-to-the-Sun Road! For now, it’s time to rest up and charge up, because the forecast is for more storms tomorrow!

Gonna make like a river and flow!