Going to the Sun Road

We slept in a bit in the morning and headed out in the late morning for a shorter drive. We headed into the park from the West Glacier side and drove Going-to-the-Sun Road to Avalanche Creek Trailhead. As we’d gotten a late start, the parking lot was full and we had to drive another mile up the road to park at Red Rock Point.

I headed down to McDonald Creek and got some pictures here - the water was a most beautiful turquoise color.

Then we walked the road to the trailhead and started off on Trail of the Cedars through a forest with some immense cedar and hemlock trees.

This forest reminded me of the Pacific Northwest. Then we got on Avalanche Creek Trail and started heading up the trail.

Shortly, there were some small waterfalls along the creek, flowing through some cool rock formations.

There were several large rocks wedged into the gorge. We stopped for pictures, then continued up the trail. This trail is relatively short and easy and so it was very popular, even in a light rain. In about 2 miles, we reached Avalanche Lake, which has at least three very tall waterfalls flowing down from Sperry Glacier into the lake.

I don’t think there’s any way to get closer, but they were quite impressive even from across the lake. Monument Falls is the only that is named on the topo map - I believe that it is the one furthest to the left. We ate lunch here sheltered under some trees from the rain, which started to pick up. So after lunch and some pictures, we headed back. Next, we continued up Going to the Sun Road, going as far as we could with the road closure due to the Reynolds Creek Fire. Past the loop, we stopped at several overlooks with views of the McDonald Creek Valley and Bird Woman Falls.

At nearly 500 feet, Bird Woman Falls is one of the highest in the park, but it can only be viewed from the overlooks, about 2 miles away.

Although I couldn’t get a close-up shot of the falls, the views were great, especially with the wildflowers blooming along the road. Heaven’s Peak was also visible, partially hidden by clouds.

We drove as far as Big Bend, where the road was currently closed and made a stop for pictures.

Then we started driving back.

We made one stop at the Loop for more views of Heaven’s Peak, then continued on towards Lake McDonald. At the head of McDonald Lake, we turned right onto a road that crosses the creek right where it feeds into the lake. Looking upstream, we could see the waterfall. We parked a little past here, then hiked McDonald Creek Trail to the waterfall.

The trail comes out near the top of the falls, but I was able to find a way to climb down some steep rocks to the base of the falls.

The falls were quite powerful and had a beautiful turquoise color, mixed in with the crashing whitewater. There were a lot of really pretty stones in the creek here as well.

I climbed back up and then we headed back to the car. We stopped at Apgar Village to buy souvenirs and I got some pictures of McDonald Lake.

We decided to just eat here at Eddie’s Café. This was the best food and service we’d had yet on the trip. Sandy had a glass of Huckleberry Riesling with dinner. We liked it so much, that we got two bottles from the gift shop after dinner. After dinner, we headed back to the house and got to bed early.