Mountains and a mountain of laundry 7/22/2016

We arrived yesterday at the West Glacier KOA after a windy (as in blowing wind) drive. Nothing like driving 2 lane roads with construction with a gusty wind blowing. Mileage that normally tops out at 7.5 mpg may be even less the next time we fill up. Just for the record, a fill up is usually 50-60 gallons. You do the math. Nevertheless, we're loving the experience.

Our campground is pretty much top of the line as campgrounds go. The roads are gravel, not dirt. The campsites are separated by green grass and bushes, and the facilities are all impeccable. The only thing lacking is wifi. That's available in one spot on the campground from which I am writing this. I could use my data, but my billing month just started, and we have at least 3 1/2 weeks at least til we get home, so we're trying to be judicious about using data.

After we arrived here, task #1 was to get laundry done. Laundry is one of those unfortunate realities that must be attended to. So we hung around the campground laundromat waiting for our stuff to get done.

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Today we set out with the goal of taking at least 2 hikes: one at Rocky Point near the Fish Creek Campground, and the other at Avalanche, and area a little further east. The Rocky Point trail took us be an area that had been burned in 2003, and it still bore evidence of that. There were a few nice views of Lake McDonald along the way. It was an easy 2 mile walk.

We headed over to the Lake McDonald Lodge, and had lunch at a picnic table there (you know what we had, right, Alex?) From there, we started over to Avalanche. That trail starts out along Avalanche Creek, and takes you up a steep climb along a gorge cut by the creek. The waterfalls and rushing water in the gorge are stunning. At about 1 mile in, the trail veers away from the creek and turns inland. Along this stretch of the trail, you can see hundreds (thousands?) of downed trees, the result of  recent Avalanches on Mount Cannon. At the end of the trail (2.3 miles) sits Avalanche lake, a green gem rimmed by mountains with cascading waterfalls. Blue sky, the mountains, the green lake, a gorgeous day--perfection.

We lingered a while at the lake, then turned back for a leisurely return.