Avalanche Lake Glacier National Park

 On our way leaving Glacier National Park, we drove over the Going To The Sun Road and stopped on the west side to hike to Avalanche Lake. This is a 5 mile round trip with 730 ft of elevation gain.

The trail starts 0.5 miles up  on the Trail of the Cedars trail. Near the turn off to the Avalanche Lake trail, a bridge crossed Avalanche Creek with a gorgeous view looking up a narrow gorge.

There were several places along the beginning of the trail, where you could see how Avalanche Creek is carving through the rocks.

 Avalanche Creek as seen further upstream, the trail departs from the creek about 1 mile up the trail.

















And then the trail begins to climb through the forest.

About 1.6 miles from the trailhead, the view opens up showing Mount Canon where there are hundreds of downed trees from recent avalanches.















Panorama of Avalanche Lake near where the trail first comes to the lake. Bearhat Mountain is hidden behind the clouds.

 We were happy to have reached our destination to this beautiful lake, with 3 large waterfalls flowing into it.

 We decided to hike along the trail on the west side of the lake.

Panorama from the southwest side of the lake. The water is much deeper and bluer here.

 We found a great spot along the shore to enjoy our lunch and the view.

Some of the plants and wildflowers we saw along the trail: