ÿþ<html> <head> <style type="text/css"> body { background-color:black; color:white; font-family:bookman old style,times roman; font-size:105%} h1 { text-align:center; color:gold; font-family:Monotype Corsiva,times roman} h2 { text-align:center; color:gold; font-family:Monotype Corsiva,times roman} table.big { width:850; font-size:110%} table.left { float:left; width:1; font-family:arial; font-size:50%} table.right { float:right; width:1; font-family:arial; font-size:50%} table.small { float:right; background-color:AA5500; color:black; font-size:60%; font-weight:bold; border:red blank; width:225} tr { vertical-align:top;} td.time { font-weight:bold; width:70} td.odo { font-weight:bold; width:60} p { text-align:left} p.center { text-align:center} p.bottom { text-align:center; font-size:80%} b.gold { color:gold} b.aqua { color:aqua} b.white { color:white; font-weight:bold; font-size:110%} img.v { width:77; border:0} img.h { height:77; border:0} </style> <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="d.css" /> <title>Glacier -- Day 1</title> </head> <body> <p class="center"> <table class="big"> <tr> <td colspan=2> <h1>Day 1 -- 28th Aug</h1> <td> </tr> <tr> <td class="time">Time</td> <td><td> </tr> <tr> <td class="time">9:00</td> <td> <p> We woke up in our cabin at <b class="gold">Apgar Village Lodge</b>, a mile inside the west entrance of the <b class="gold">Glacier National Park</b>. We arrived around the previous midnight and went to bed before having a chance to look around. </p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td class="time">9:30</td> <td> <p> <table class="right"> <tr> <td><a href="photos/DSCN8660.jpg" target="blank"> <img class="h" src="thumbnails/DSCN8660.jpg"></a></td> <td><a href="photos/DSCN8663.jpg" target="blank"> <img class="h" src="thumbnails/DSCN8663.jpg"></a></td> </tr> <tr> <td>Apgar Village Lodge.</td> <td>Before Lake McDonald.</td> </tr> </table> Putting on warm clothings, we stepped outside into the cool air, which felt more like autumn than a late August day should. The Lodge was beneath a canopy of tall cedar trees, and only 50 yards away from <b class="aqua">Lake McDonald</b>, the largest lake in the Park. </p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td class="time">9:50</td> <td> <p> <table class="left"> <tr> <td><a href="photos/DSCN8667.jpg" target="blank"> <img class="v" src="thumbnails/DSCN8667.jpg"></a></td> </tr> <tr> <td>Emily hitting on the regulars.</td> </tr> </table> After going through the check-in paperwork at the Lodge office, we had breakfast at <b>Eddie's</b>, the only restaurant at Apgar. The favorite fruit of the area was huckleberry, so Emily had delicious huckleberry pancakes with huckleberry syrup, which tasted like blueberries but with a distinctively earthy and tart undertone. </p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td class="time">11:05</td> <td> <p> After breakfast, we caught the free park shuttle bus and began our adventure. Soon the bus was cruising along Lake McDonald on the famous <b class="gold">Going-to-the-Sun Road</b>, the only road connecting the east and west sides of the park. </p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td class="time">11:40</td> <td> <p> <table class="left"> <tr> <td><a href="photos/DSCN8676.jpg" target="blank"> <img class="v" src="thumbnails/DSCN8676.jpg"></a></td> </tr> </table> <table class="right"> <tr> <td><a href="photos/DSCN8675.jpg" target="blank"> <img class="h" src="thumbnails/DSCN8675.jpg"></a></td> </tr> <tr> <td>Huge tree root.</td> </tr> </table> We arrived at the trailhead of the <b class="gold">Trail of the Cedars</b>. One of the most popular walks in the park, this was a level (wheelchair accessible) boardwalk through a patch of gigantic cedar trees. </p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td class="time">11:55</td> <td> <p> <table class="left"> <tr> <td><a href="photos/DSCN8682.jpg" target="blank"> <img class="v" src="thumbnails/DSCN8682.jpg"></a></td> <td><a href="photos/DSCN8695.jpg" target="blank"> <img class="v" src="thumbnails/DSCN8695.jpg"></a></td> </tr> <tr> <td>Mouth of the Gorge.</td> <td>Cascading creek.</td> </tr> </table> <table class="right"> <tr> <td><a href="photos/DSCN8688.jpg" target="blank"> <img class="h" src="thumbnails/DSCN8688.jpg"></a></td> <td><a href="photos/DSCN8692.jpg" target="blank"> <img class="h" src="thumbnails/DSCN8692.jpg"></a></td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan=2>Avalanche Creek through the gorge.</td> </tr> </table> In 15 minutes we reached the end of the Trail of the Cedars at the mouth of the <b class="aqua">Avalanche Gorge</b>, carved out of solid rock by the <b class="aqua">Avalanche Creek</b>. From here a trail climbed up along the valley towards its source. </p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td class="time">12:50</td> <td> <p> <table class="left"> <tr> <td><a href="photos/DSCN8698.jpg" target="blank"> <img class="v" src="thumbnails/DSCN8698.jpg"></a></td> <td><a href="photos/DSCN8707.jpg" target="blank"> <img class="v" src="thumbnails/DSCN8707.jpg"></a></td> <td><a href="photos/DSCN8708.jpg" target="blank"> <img class="v" src="thumbnails/DSCN8708.jpg"></a></td> </tr> <tr> <td>On the trail.</td> <td>Avalanche Lake.</td> <td>Emily celebrating.</td> </tr> </table> The trail turned out to be quite steep, climbing at a steady gradient -- exactly what we needed as a warm-up hike in preparation for the more challenging treks we would undertake in the coming week. Afer almost an hour, we finally reached <b class="aqua">Avalanche Lake</b>, nested in a cirque surrounded on three sides by cliffs, <table class="right"> <tr> <td><a href="photos/P01a.jpg" target="blank"> <img class="h" src="thumbnails/P01a.jpg"></a></td> </tr> </table> with waterfalls cascading over from glaciers and lakes hidden among the mountains above. Being in late summer, the lake was a little low in water, with huge tree trunks lodged along the shallow shores. This is the first of many beautiful alpine lakes we would visit on this trip. </p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td class="time">13:05</td> <td> <p> When we started descending from the lake, we met several groups of hikers, who we could tell were not used to all the walking and were struggling against the climb. So we encouraged them that they were only 5 minutes from the lake; the proclamation were greeted with universal joy and excitement. Further down the path, we repeated the experiment with other groups of hikers, to whom we informed that the lake were only 10 minutes away. These statement was received in stoic (or exhausted) apathy. We concluded that, to a struggling hiker, "5 more minutes" was interpreted as "imminent", while "10 more minutes" sounded like "forever". </p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td class="time">13:50</td> <td> <p> Back to the Trail of the Cedars, we decided against taking the shuttle back. Instead, we challenged ourselves to walk 6 extra miles down to Lake McDonald before catching the shuttle. That turned out to be a questionable decision: this section of the trail had little view to offer. One redeeming quality, however, was its solitude: no one else bothered to hike on this path, so we had the whole place to ourselves, and did not meet anyone for 2 hours. </p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td class="time">15:40</td> <td> <p> <table class="right"> <tr> <td><a href="photos/P01c.jpg" target="blank"> <img class="h" src="thumbnails/P01c.jpg"></a></td> </tr> </table> Finally, we ran into a couple of hikers who were not carrying any backpacks: a sure sign that they were only out for a short stroll, which in turn implied that the trailhead at Going-to-the-Sun road was just around the corner. Indeed, we had arrived at <b class="aqua">Johns Lake</b>, which was only 0.5 mile from the road. At this point we were quite tired and was ready to return to civilization. </p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td class="time">16:00</td> <td> <p> <table class="small"> <tr><td> <b class="white">Avalanche Lake</b> <b class="white">(10 miles •!600 ft)</b></br> Good warm-up hike. The Avalanche Gorge was the highlight of the day. </td></tr> </table> We were back at the Going-to-the-Sun road, when an unexpected hurdle arose. This trailhead was not a shuttle stop, and a few shuttles simply ignored our flagging and refused to stop. After 15 minutes of futility, we had resigned to walk a further 1.5 mile to the next stop when finally a nice shuttle driver pulled over and gave us a ride. Thanks you, Mr. Nice Driver! </p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td class="time">16:20</td> <td> <p> <table class="right"> <tr> <td><a href="photos/DSCN8725.jpg" target="blank"> <img class="v" src="thumbnails/DSCN8725.jpg"></a></td> </tr> <tr> <td>Post-hike thrist quenchers.</td> </tr> </table> We were dropped off at the shuttle stop near <b class="gold">Lake McDonald Lodge</b>, the most famous hotel in the park. We had reservation to stay here on the last night of this trip. In order not to spoil CK's idea of a grand finale, we did not approach the Lodge; instead we went to <b>Jammer Joe's</b>, a diner a short walk from the Lodge (and right behind the shuttle stop), where we shared a buffalo burger, a bowl of soup -- and cold beer, the best drink after a hike. We had Fat Tire (a Colorado brew) and Huckleberry Lager (locally from Montana, the land of huckleberries), and both were excellent beers. </p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td class="time">17:00</td> <td> <p> We caught the shuttle ... </p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td class="time">17:30</td> <td> <p> <table class="left"> <tr> <td><a href="photos/DSCN8729.jpg" target="blank"> <img class="h" src="thumbnails/DSCN8729.jpg"></a></td> </tr> <tr> <td>Huckleberry ice-cream.</td> </tr> <tr> <td><a href="photos/DSCN8734.jpg" target="blank"> <img class="h" src="thumbnails/DSCN8734.jpg"></a></td> </tr> <tr> <td>Enjoying the view.</td> </tr> </table> And returned to Apgar. We visited the country store for some huckleberry ice-cream (yummy), and browsed the souvenir selections. (We did not buy any; it was essential not to add unnecessary weight to our packs.) CK chatted (in Mandarin) with the cashier at the store turned out to be from Taiwan; <table class="right"> <tr> <td><a href="photos/DSCN8738.jpg" target="blank"> <img class="h" src="thumbnails/DSCN8738.jpg"></a></td> </tr> <tr> <td><a href="photos/DSCN8740.jpg" target="blank"> <img class="h" src="thumbnails/DSCN8740.jpg"></a></td> </tr> <tr> <td><a href="photos/DSCN8746.jpg" target="blank"> <img class="h" src="thumbnails/DSCN8746.jpg"></a></td> </tr> <tr> <td>McDonald Creek.</td> </tr> </table> there were many Chinese speaking youngsters holding summer jobs in the park, and they were always very happy to be addressed in their mother tongue. Afterwards, we had another stroll near the lake. Directly on the shore, stood <b class="gold">Apgar Village Inn</b>, the only other lodging option in Apgar (besides the Apgar Village <i>Lodge</i>, where we were staying). The Inn clearly had a much better view of the lake than the Lodge, much to the dismay of Emily, who picked the latter when CK presented her with the choice of the two. She needed to be reminded that she picked the Lodge for the <b class="aqua">McDonald Creek</b>, which flowed serenely right behind our cabin between tall conifers. After taking a shower, we relaxed on the bank of the creek, watching ducks feeding when dusk slowly fell over the land, until it started to rain and forced us to return to our cabin. </p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td class="time">19:45</td> <td> <p> <table class="right"> <tr> <td><a href="photos/DSCN8748.jpg" target="blank"> <img class="v" src="thumbnails/DSCN8748.jpg"></a></td> </tr> <tr> <td>Huckleberry monster.</td> </tr> </table> We returned to Eddie's for dinner. Another buffalo burger and soup, as well as huckleberry cobbler topped with huckleberry ice-cream. (Emily had turned huckleberry monster!) </p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td class="time">20:45</td> <td> <p> It was still raining when we returned to our cabin. We went to bed, hoping for good weather for the next day. </p> <p style={text-align:right}><a href="d02.html">next day</a></p> <td> </tr> <tr><td colspan=2> <hr> <p class="bottom"> <form name="nav" method="POST"> <div align="center"> Jump To: <select name="xfer" size="1"> <option value="../../private/index.html">CK's Home Page</option> <option value="index.html">Glacier Trip</option> <option value="d01.html" selected="selected">Day 1</option> <option value="d02.html">Day 2</option> <option value="d03.html">Day 3</option> <option value="d04.html">Day 4</option> <option value="d05.html">Day 5</option> <option value="d06.html">Day 6</option> <option value="d07.html">Day 7</option> <option value="d08.html">Day 8</option> <option value="d09.html">Day 9</option> <option value="d10.html">Day 10</option> <option value="thoughts.html">Thoughts</option> </select> <input type="button" onclick="location = ''+document.nav.xfer.options[document.nav.xfer.selectedIndex].value;" value="Go!" /> <div style={font-size:75%}> (These pages were developed with Internet Explorer and may not align correctly in other browsers.) </div> </div></form> </p> <p align="center">Created on 18th Sep 2010. 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