Mitten to Mountains: Spaces (and places) Unknown: Our last day in Glacier together

The next day was forecast sunny and we were not about to miss this hike.

Avalanche Lake was acclaimed as one of the best hiking trails for an easier hike and its Pseudo Rainforest make-up was unique to the area. We had decided to experience with a guide at 9am.

Our guide’s name was Teagan. Teagan was a Geologist studying climate change. She loved rocks and wanted everyone and their mother to love them to. Well, my mother and I loved them. And her. She was awesome.

There is an exceptionally consistent correlation in Park Ranger to Awesome ratio.

“Everyone loves detective shows cause the detectives are always sexy. So I decided to be a Geologist! We’re detectives!” Before we got into the depths of the trail, she had us doing our own investigations to prompt her introduction to the trees around us “What do you think this tree is?” she pointed to a large reddish trunk. “Cedar!”

“And why do you think it is a cedar!”

“We’re on trail of the Cedars!” said the same trailgoer.

Teagan begged us to upgrade our detective skills. Segmented leaves, aromatic, striated bark were all good cues.

And then we walked to something I would have passed right by. A rock. One I could have considered a lawn ornament.

Stro-mat-oh-lite!

“I love this rock!” Teagan said. “I love this rock because its telling us a lot. You see, Geology is all about looking at the present to discover the past.” This rock was an eroding Stromatolite (a layered form) and by knowing that, scientists knew that this area used to have similar conditions to the Bahamas. Why? Because they have fully formed Stramatolites there. “This is some of the first life on earth! It photosynthesizes! It breaths! It prepared us for the life boom!”

The entire hike exposed us to explanations behind features that we never would have paid attention to.

This Tree was hit by lightning back in…2000? Anyhow, it wasn’t until two weeks later that a huge fire broke out from finally igniting through the shallow root system. While National Parks work to preserve the natural process of things, this fire was controlled to some extent because it is the last forest of its kind in the area and it was easily controllable.

ripple rocks tell her how water flowed. Other rocks bore striations that could tell her how the ice moved and whether it was likely the rock had always been there or had been dropped as an erratic or if it was old or new depending on if it were on or beneath a tree.

Teagan had us guess what might have cause this massive topple. In addition to the trees in this valley, we were standing among a large patch that had snapped and fallen across the path towards the upward hill. It turns out, Avalanche Basin is named such for a reason. Since it was the middle of winter, no one witnessed the event but it is believed that the avalanche only hit trees directly in the valley and the ones we were standing among snapped from the sheer volume of wind it produced.

The mountainside where the Avalanche began

The Trail used to weave through this area and after years of having to make frequent shut downs due to flooding, they finally shifted the trail over.

Avalanche Trail is also a “Bear Frequenting area” and we did see some fresh scat so Teagan made yelping noises and “HEY-O”s all the way up.

Listening intently

At the end, she taught us a little song to keep track of the key pointers, sung to “Row Row Row your Boat”:

*Silt Tilt Slide and Glide, that’s how glaciers form

Rocks Bacteria Mountains and Glaciers

Basins Certs and Horns

*sediment builds up from moving tides, rocks tilt the landscape 150 million years ago, Pressure creates tension and snaps the rock 70 million years ago and finally 2 million years ago, Glaciers glide through valleys in a U shape, forming single, double and triple Basins, Certs or Materhorns

And then we got to see what we had been singing about. Entering the basin with a new understanding of how it came to be, I felt like I was seeing the lost city of Atlanta or something. Even though geology happens everywhere. I guess Teagan did her job.

When we got to the lake, we couldn’t stay long because we had an engagement…that morning as we drove in, our eyes caught sight of the Helicopter tour sign. I called to find out a bit more and when mother learned that she would get her Glacier fix in, she decided it would be worth it regardless of price. It was just too strange to be in Glacier without seeing a glacier, especially with all this talk about their rapid disappearance.

Our Copter

It was so worth it.

Our Pilot

Our excited mother

We soared up to 9,000 feet in the air, getting as high as some of the taller mountains. I was immediately in a dumbfounded childlike wonderment that I basked in for the entirety of the trip. It wasn’t much of a history tour but our pilot took us right up into the basins of the glaciers and over mountain ridges that only the most dedicated hikers ever saw. We passed through Avalanche basin and I could see the tiny specks of where we’d been that morning. The ride was smooth and our pilot kept reassuring us that we were rising or falling and because of the massive scales we were surrounded by, it just didn’t seem like much. At one point, we got so close that it looked like we could hit if we weren’t careful but in actuality we were still miles off.

Some general sights:

This is Lone Man mountain. One Lone Man (I didn't ask
if women get the job also...) sits up here year round since
this area is so prone to fires.

Exhibit A: Lincoln Creek fire of 2003

Isn't this water amazing? The color is caused by old
glacial sediments that did crazy stuff when they froze

Crossing the Continental Divide which goes through almost the mid section of the park

Recognize this from earlier?

How about now? Avalanche Basin!

Gunshot Lake

Hidden Falls. He kept clarifying distances
to put things in perspective. This "tiny"
looking thing drops 2,000 feet

Hidden Lake. Still appropriately hidden under ice!

Sperry Chalet. This historic Chalet is way way way up in the mountains
and can only be reached by hiking. It was not yet open when we were there
because every year, it takes some amount of winter damage and needs
repair. I just barely spotted what he was pointing at before it was out of sight.

St.Mary's Lake

Twin Lakes

Lakes Wilson (top) and Lincoln connected by Beaver Falls

Now...dundundun...GLACIERS!

There are three things that define a glacier.

1: it moves
2: there is compacted ice. A lot of snow is a lot of snow. NOT a glacier
3: it is at least 25 Acres

Jackson Glacier

Sperry Glacier

Blackfoot Glacier

Harrison Glacier

And what he considered the Grand Finale, the most picturesque moment:

Lake McDonald. I donno. I don't think you can have a contest here. It was all amazing.

That evening, we drove into the nearby town of Whitefish where we discovered a local Restaurant called “CraggyRange” that served up some tasty local beer and amazing sweet potato fries under bright yellow umbrellas in a cozy outdoor veranda. Sitting there with the umbrellas making everything in that bright clear day so much brighter, everything felt perfect. There hadn’t been tension or effort. The day felt like everything could go our way. Like the world was gifting this last day to us. For me, it curbed any lingering aggravation and brought in the beginnings of that nervous longing and the recognition of parting ways.