West Glacier National Park

 

West Glacier National Park

One day, we headed out to explore as far up Going to the Sun Road as we could, approaching from the west entrance.  No one could drive the entire Going to the Sun Road, because the top (middle) third of it was still snow covered and they were still plowing it to clear that part of the road.  Still, we could see 2/3 of the road, and this post is about the fabulous sights we saw on the western side.

Lake Mc Donald in Glacier National Park, is the gem of the park.  The Park has many gems, but Lake Mc Donald is the largest lake in Glacier National Park, and is sometime synonymous with the park (aside from the glaciers!). 

It is an oligotrophic lake, typical of the type of lake that is created after a glacier retreats.  Its waters are clear and cold.  The lake is almost 10 miles long and about 472 feet deep.  It’s about 1 ½ miles wide, and its surface temperature rarely exceeds 64 degrees – brrrr!  Its clarity is generally greater than 50 feet in late summer.

We needed to be careful as we drove on the windy road.  We had to watch for not only cars, but wildlife as well.  They certainly didn’t show much fear from people or cars!

One beautiful site to see are the Sacred Cascade Falls, part of McDonald Creek.  After a short walk, we stood on the footbridge crossing over the falls.  These falls are revered by the local Native Americans.  They consider the mist that rises from the falls as a connection between heaven and earth.  It is also considered to be the place where the First Man and First Woman were created by the Moon Transformer. With that last statement in mind, it’s easy to see why some couples choose to have their engagement photos taken on the rocks along the shore.

A bit farther upstream, we got to see more of the rushing waters of McDonald Creek.  Although the scene looks peaceful, the sound of the water rushing was far from soft and soothing.

These images help to show just how powerful the water was in this part of the creek.  As you may be able to see in the left image, the water is incredibly clear, and we could see the rocks at the bottom of the creek bed as the waters rushed over them.

Our travels upstream came to an end at Avalanche Creek.  This creek flows into McDonald Creek, and the waters are a bit rougher here than when they reach McDonald Creek.

Isn’t this an interesting rock?  I saw it along the shore of McDonald Creek at Avalanche Creek and had to photograph it.  It wasn’t chipped or anything, the apparent texture is just embedded in the rock and the surface of the rock is quite smooth.

This is McDonald Creek, just after Avalanche Creek flows into it, and before it begins to pick up speed as it makes its way down to Lake McDonald.  This marks the end of our trip along the west side of Going to the Sun Road.  What will the East Side show us?

Enjoy!