Avalanche Creek

We had a great day today, there was almost no rain and the sun eventually came out. We got to Avalanche Falls early, beating the crowds, at least on the way up to Avalanche Lake. On the way back the throngs rose up to greet us. Avalanche Falls is the current terminus for the Going to the Sun Road on the west side of the park, so it is quite popular. On the way up, I spotted two moose, a mother and a yearling. They were headed up Avalanche Creek too. We saw them again closer to the lake. I got pictures at both meets. We also got a Mule deer buck. The alpine lake was beautiful and was being fed by multiple waterfalls cascading down the opposite rock face. Unfortunately, it was also quite muddy around the lake and I slipped and fell and got covered in mud. But I had clean clothes to change into back in the car and I’ll be doing laundry when we get to Jackson, WY. The only thing still hurting then was my pride. The walk back was manic and the parking lot was worse, so we bailed to Lake McDonald Lodge for another scrumptious lunch. To round out the day, we took the boat tour from the lodge on the DeSmet, which is just turning ninety this year.