Out West Adventure: Part 2--Day two in West Glacier

Mon. June 24: It was raining as we awoke in the morning so we decided to wait a day for the Avalanche Lake Ranger-led hike and instead drove to the historic Lake McDonald Lodge for their fantastic Breakfast Buffet. The off- again -on-again rain changed to a steady rain as we ate so we felt like we had made a good decision! Since the day was looking to be a complete wash-out we drove to Whitefish and Kalispell, the nearest towns, to do some errands. We bought gas and a few groceries at Safeway (using our points for 10¢ off per gallon). Then Marv got the oil changed in the truck while I sat in a Montana Coffee Co. shop across the street and worked on the blog. By the time we finished the rain had finally stopped so we made our way back to the campground with a stop to buy huckleberry jam at a place with all-things-huckleberry, and to do a Tasting Round at the Glacier Distillery, which was really interesting to us because we’ve never visited one before. They make 4 kinds of whiskey and 2 kinds of liquors, which we tasted with a group of about 8 bikers (motorcycle-type) before we bought two bottles. Back at the campground we made a slightly early dinner of black beans, rice and sausage for our second meal of the day before driving to the nearby Fish Creek campground on the other side of Lake McDonald. There we hiked about 2 miles to and then on the Rocky Point loop trail. The hike is an interpretive trail showing how the area is recovering from the devastating 2003 Robert Fire, which burned app. 50,000 acres on the Howe Ridge that runs into the lake. The beginning of the trail showed how the forest is recovering in the area where fire management personnel thinned and back burned to protect the campground. The rest of the trail showed the recovery in the area where everything flammable was consumed by the fire. The area is full of wild flowers including roses, twinflowers, bear grass, and something that looked like yarrow, so it was a delight to the nose the entire way. We returned in time for the Ranger program which was given by an 87 year old man named Doug Follett who talked about his 54 years with the park service at Glacier and recited some of his poems written during those years. When we got back we did dishes and got the camper ready to close-up quickly in the morning.  

Lake McDonald Lodge with refurbished 1930s Ford Touring buses

Breakfast in the Lodge with rain pouring down outside

Close-up of Bear Grass

Bear Grass standing tall

Several Rangers told us it was the best year for Bear Grass they had ever seen

Lake McDonald Reflections

A slow comeback from fire distruction 

Fish Creek