Avalanche Lake

We rushed out of Apgar this morning to catch a ranger-led hike to Avalanche Lake. Unfortunately I read the schedule wrong so we were either a day late or a day early. On the bright side, we had an early start for our hike. The trail meanders along Avalanche Creek with a pretty cascade before arriving at Avalanche Lake. One interesting thing is that the lake looks like a completely different body of water depending on which end you are standing at. It's worth your time to walk to the far end.

Avalanche Lake/Creek are glacially fed. As you've probably heard, the glaciers in the park are retreating due to climate change. Sadly, the glacier that sources Avalanche Lake/Creek is also getting smaller and will soon cease to exist. This means that the ecosystem in this area will likely change dramatically.

Speaking of drama, on the way back we saw a black bear about 20 feet from the trail. It was more unsettling than scary as there were several other hikers in the area taking pictures of the bear. But he seemed a little perturbed so we moved along faster than I might have liked. If you look closely at the bottom photo, you can hopefully make out the ears and nose.