Friday, June 6, 2014

Moving day - we headed for eastern Washington.  Spring Ridge Estates, near Newport, was a 237.4 mile drive (68,382.4 total; I decided it did not make sense to continue tracking trip mileage).  The entire trip was along the highway 2 from Montana, through Idaho, and into Washington.  Spring Ridge was a 55+ community specifically designed for RV'ers.  We  had talked to the owner, Gary, at two prior rallies where we were invited to stay free to experience the place.   

Along the way we followed the Kootenai River.  Clearly this area must be a paradise for fishermen.

Gary put us on lot 561, a 10 acre parcel, with a view of HooDoo mountain.  We chose to have the front of the coach heading east to catch the morning sun.  It was so very quiet - the only sound was the breeze through the trees.

The view out the drivers side windows.  Not bad!

The rosebush just outside my window smelled wonderful.

As I was reading, I noticed some movement out of the corner of my eye.  Joani quietly slipped over and snapped a picture of this young deer just outside the screen window.  I don't think he could see through the windows because he never noticed us moving around, but a slight creaking of the leather couch got his attention and he slowly wandered away.  It seemed like a very auspicious start for our stay.

Our visitor enjoyed munching on this flowering tree.  What a cutie!

Thursday, June 5, 2014

We had a pretty lazy day.  Other than walking Sam around the park, I don't think I moved very much.  You have to have a day like that every once in a while.  There was an evening Ranger talk scheduled for 8:30 in the Auditorium next to the Lake McDonald Lodge.  Sarah, our Ranger, delivered a very nice, very polished lecture on quite a variety of subjects related to the park.  

Clearly, her favorite topic was the lowly diatom.  Since they form the base of the food chain, they impact everything else in the park.  She showed us a number of scanning electron micrographs of the tiny creatures measuring just 10s of microns in length.  Of course, she mentioned the coyotes and moose and bears too.  It was a very enjoyable hour.  When she finished and we got up, I realized there were probably 40-50 people in the auditorium (we were on the front row, so I did not see everyone enter the hall). 

The auditorium construction was interesting with all of the cedar bark lining the interior walls.  Cedar bark was peeled and flattened to create panels between the logs.  It might have been a bit too rustic for my tastes. 

Even though it was already 9:30, it was not yet dark.  We had to wait for a few more minutes to see just how colorful the sunset might get. 

The sky continued to get even more colorful, so another stop by the lake was in order.  

Wednesday, June 4, 2014

We returned to the park for a leisurely hike around the Trail of the Cedars (we previously covered less than half of the trail getting to the Avalanche Lake Trail before).  On the way in, we stopped at one turn out that had quite a nice observation deck overlooking some nice rapids along McDonald Creek.

The Trail of he Cedars reminded us a little bit of the Hoh rain forest in Olympic National Park (one of our favorites).  There were a lot of strange lichens and mosses clinging to the trees and spreading over everything on the ground.

We were treated to a beautiful view of Avalanche Gorge.  That would be a wild ride in a kayak if it would even be possible.

Heading back, we stopped at yet another turn-out and found it was the trail head for several more jaunts into the woods.  The creek banks were composed of metamorphic rock that appeared to just be a lot of thin sheets barely held together.  We found huge collections of rocks polished by years of tumbling in the creek piled along the edge of the fast moving water.  

I didn't really notice we were on a horse trail, until these guys came up behind us.  We deferred to the big guys and got out of their way.

Back at the Visitor's Center, we learned there would be a Ranger led hike along McDonald Creek if we waited for a few hours.  It was enough time to get a quick bite of lunch back at the coach and, reluctantly, leave Sam behind.  We met the Ranger at the same bridge we had seen earlier in the day.

Sometimes, when there is not a lot of wildlife around, you take what you can get - in this case a wild toad.

Our Ranger, Teagan, was working on her doctorate at a school in Canada.  She confessed her great love for Glacier and, as I remember, was working at the park for her fifth summer in a row.  It was a small group; one guy from California, a mom and her two kids from Colorado and us.  

Teagan led the way along the trail for a little more than a mile to a beaver dam.  She paused along the way to point out interesting rocks and plants and a few birds.  She had bear spray and I was sure she would have fought off any marauding grizzly's, so I didn't have to feel constantly on guard.

The Beaver dam significantly changed the dynamics of the creek.

By the time we got back, I had lost count of how many miles we had hiked, but it was enough for one day and it felt good to head back to the coach with nothing more strenuous planned than to sort through our pictures.

Monday, June 2, 2014

There are a lot of hiking trails in Glacier, but with all of the focus on being "bear aware" we were a bit nervous about getting too far from civilization.  The hike to Avalanche Lake is one of the most popular trails in the park, so it seemed like a good choice.  It was a total of just over 5 miles.  We started early to catch some of the morning light, but in the forest I'm not sure that makes a lot of difference.  Avalanche Trail is off of the Trail of the Cedars loop.  The day was a little cool, but sunny.  I was constantly scanning the woods for any movement or sound - my understanding of being "bear aware" - luckily, we never had any trouble.

Near the start of Avalanche Trail we passed Avalanche Gorge.  It was a spectacular stretch of rapids and falls.  The snow melt created a huge flow of water.  There was a significant elevation change in the few hundred yards of the gorge which created a lot of noise.  After a while it was a bit overwhelming and I was happy for the silence of the forest again.  It was probably a half mile of hiking before we no longer heard the rushing water.

The trail was absolutely gorgeous and we had it to ourselves for the first hour or so before we finally had someone pass us on their way back.

Two miles in and we reached our destination.  The view was worth every bit of the effort to get there.  There was no wind so the surface of the lake was like glass reflecting the mountains in the background.

Just on the other side of these peaks was one of the many glaciers in the park, but it was not visible from this vantage point.  Hopefully, we will see glaciers when the "Going to the Sun Road" opens later in the month (of course, that also assumes we make it back to the park later in June or July).

There are at least three large cascading waterfalls on the other side of the lake.  It is difficult to see them well at such a distance, but below is a close-up of the center falls just above the level of the lake.

Imagine the tectonic forces responsible for twisting these sedimentary layers into the shapes below.

These four geese were the only wildlife we saw on our hike for the day. I'm not really unhappy about that since the alternative might have been a bit too exciting!  I still really want to see a moose - I just want it to be on the other side of some convenient natural barrier.  Note how the bottom of the lake is covered with waterlogged timber.

Yes, Joani had to stick her hand into the water to see if it was cold. As you can imagine it was icy!  It was frozen only a few hours before it became running water in the creek, after all.

Sunday, June 1, 2014

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