July 29 - Riding to the Sun Road again & Avalanche Trail Hike

Today started out with Bill going to the auto parts store to get spark plugs for his bike. It was starting to miss a little yesterday and he wanted to make sure he had new plugs just in case.

Then we decided we wanted to hike Avalanche Trail off of Riding to the Sun Road. It was a 2.5-mile hike in among huge, tall red cedars to a gorge. Ice-age glacial melt water carved through bedrock sculpted the gorge. Then the trail headed up among western hemlock and overland until we reached Avalanche Lake. We continued walking along the lake's rocky shore.

As you see in the photos, the weather was gorgeous making the lake’s aquamarine shine. We hiked around the lake as far as the trail would let us, again taking our shoes and socks off to wade in the freezing glacier water.

Too beautiful to pass up, we sat for a spell looking at the water falls coming off the glacier on the continental divide. We took a break just listening to nothing and taking in all the beauty surrounding us.

Jumped on the bikes and decided to ride somewhere we hadn’t been yet. The road took us to another part of the park where there had been a fire at some point. Lodepole pine have started to grow in the ungrowth of the burned out trees.

On our way back, we stopped in Columbia Falls because they were having a Farmer’s Market with live music and crafts. Had a great time listening to some bluegrass music and shopping!! To end our night, we ate at a Mexican restaurant that was superb and then washed two loads of clothes so we’re ready for our next adventures.

July 28 - Going to the Sun Road again

Decided to go back and ride the Going to the Sun Road again to do some hiking. I rode behind Bill so I could take some pictures while riding. Just as we were getting started on the road, we saw a Grizzly bear cub loping across the road. We drove toward the east end of the park to do some more hiking.

We hiked to the St. Mary Falls trail and saw Virginia and Barring falls as well. We met two guys on the trail who were from State College (can you believe that). They told us about a trail that most people don't travel that would lead to yet another fall so we took that trail as well. It was all so beautiful. Lots of water rushing and roaring down. The water was an aqua blue. Found out that whenever the water is that color it's because it came from a glacier. Wanted to see if the water really was as cold as I thought glacier water would be so we took our shoes and socks off and soaked our feet for a little bit .... AND only a little bit. It was FREEZING but refreshing!!

After that refreshing break, we took another hike to Sun Point. The view was another amazing one. Sun glistening on St. Mary Lake and mountains in the distance. The beauty just surrounded us.



It was time for lunch so we took our packed lunch to the bank of the St. Marys Lake and ate while the water lapped around our feet. Of course, I had to take off my shoes and socks and soak my feet. The water wasn't nearly as cold as the falls. I was actually able to keep my feet in the water for at least 5 minutes without them going numb. What a relaxing lunch.

Still wanting to keep riding, we decided to go on to Many Glacier. We had huckleberry ice cream at the general store that was delicious. Huckleberries are very plentiful here. They have stands that sell huckleberries and cherries all along the roads.

After that respite, what did we see but a HUGE bull moose taking a rest in a wooded area. Lots of people all around but the moose didn't care. He just laid their taking it easy.

Well, it was time to head back to Hungry Horse so we decided to take the Going to the Sun Road (instead of going the long way like we did last night). The construction on the road holds us up at least 30 minutes. They are fixing the boulder walls and getting the road ready to pave.

Finally made it back to the motel. Ate at the Nite Owl Back Room. Declicious baby back ribs and fry bread... glad we had all that hiking to use up some of the calories.