It is cooler than forecast and greyer than forecast but we are going anyway.  Tomorrow is rainy all day so this is our last day to get some more Glacier hiking in.

We are on the trail about 8:45. Even this late, we start out in fleece, gloves and wool hats.  Today we headed out on a 3.6 mile out and back with 1950 ft elevation gain.  It is rated as difficult, it is.  Mile 1 is pretty flat.  The next 1 ½ noticeably steeper.  We peel off all the warm clothes.  The last mile is loooong, steep switchbacks.  We nearly give up several times but a “one more turn” mantra keeps us moving.  A couple we meet at about 3 miles in brags on the views from the top and grouse on the trail.  Ok, we can do it.  We trudge on and are very pleased when we catch sight of the lookout tower at the top.  We made it.  We can see to the mountain ridge that is the continental divide along Going to the Sun and, with a little off trail maneuvering, Lake McDonald nestled in the valley below. We settle on the lookout walkway to lunch and wait for brighter skies.  That doesn’t happen.  It actually gets darker and cooler and weather radar confirms there is rain around us.  It is much too cool to get wet this far from the truck.  Time to head down.

We take a few knee and ankle breaks; still, the return 3.6 miles goes more quickly than our outbound and we make it back down without even a sprinkle of rain.   We are not sorry we made the trek; but we agree a hike this difficult ought to end at a more spectacular view!  Maybe we just needed a brighter, clearer day to bring out the colors and provide a crisper view of the distant mountains. We will sleep well tonight.

It is a bumpy muddy ride up Going to the Sun Road to the trailhead about 5 miles beyond McDonald Lodge.  Our early start pays off as we get parking in the front row and are on the trail by 7:20AM, just right for a quiet start to the hike. We wind through the colossal cedars along The Trail of Cedars boardwalk, pass a rocky, moss-covered waterfall, follow the sometimes babbling sometimes crashing stream, then turn up and into the dense pines.  It is overcast and the shadowy, towering pines are beautiful but a bit foreboding. The trail is steeper than we anticipated but lovely. We spot the distinctive white profiles of mountain goats mixed with bright red and yellow fall foliage on the cliffs high above the creek bed.  At about 2.5 miles our path opens onto the foot of Avalanche Lake.   Muted colors of the surrounding mountains and waterside foliage reflect in the still lake waters. A Stellar’s Jay comes begging while we relax on the gravelly beach.  It doesn’t look like it is going to brighten up and it’s getting to be prime hike time, the once peaceful beach is getting busy.  We retrace our steps back to the truck.  This was well worth the walk.

It is still early.  We head on out Going to the Sun toward Logan Pass. Kent has not been on the west side of the divide this trip.  It is hard to capture fall colors with grey skies but it is beautiful.  We are classic Glacier visitors, stopping at pull-offs all along the route scouring the mountains for goats and sheep (we see an impressive looking bighorn ram) and attempting to identify glaciers.  Traffic gets annoying and we turn back toward the west side.  Construction is in full swing, leaving us to wait for the pilot truck and rolling through splattery mud.  There is a car wash in our not-to-distant future.  We make a quick stop for firewood and are back at camp with our feet up.   It’s been a full day.

At least “not rainy” weather.  We mess up the alarm so are not up super early but still early enough to start ahead of the crowds.  We have a quick breakfast and load up the backpack for a full day out on the trail.  We load up lots of clothes too, its 42 when we head out the door.  Our destination? Bowman Lake in the north west corner of the park.  The thermometer dips to 36 as we make our way further into the back country. The truck has a pretty good heater though and we stay toasty warm.  Our route includes Outside North Fork Road past Polebridge, the one Carol and I drove last week.  It isn’t any smoother today!  Wild life viewing is pretty good though.  A bevy of ptarmigan scratch and poke along the road’s edge and three elk cows graze peacefully in a roadside meadow.  One crosses not far in front of us as they gradually make their way toward the tree line.

The Open sign at Polebridge Mercantile calls to us, we can’t resist the stop and choose one fresh cinnamon roll and one of those yummy sticky buns.  As we turn to head for Bowman Lake trailhead a paper sign on the Mercantile door catches my eye.  It reads “9/19 to 10/7 bridge over the Flathead closed” “No access to Bowman Lake”.  Surely not, we think as we enjoy our baked treats.  Once finished, we drive the mile or so to the expected crossing.  Sure enough, there stands a flagger and she confirms that there is no access beyond the river.  We (and all the other folks who couldn’t/didn’t believe the sign) make a U-turn and ponder on what to do now.  We decide to drive a bit further north hoping that our wild life viewing luck will continue.   It does not.  We reverse course and bump our way back to Apgar.  The day is still young and we need gas for future wanderings so we head for Hungry Horse where prices are a bit more reasonable, $4.24 vs around $5 in West Glacier.  It is a chance to stop at The Huckleberry Patch too.  Folks in the grocery pointed Carol and I that way for the best locally produced huckleberry treats.  Kent and I split a huckleberry shake.  Didn’t need the sweets but hey, we might not get back this way!

Back home we relax a bit and finalize campgrounds for our move down to Vegas.  It is burgers for dinner and just at dusk we watch a mule deer browse her way across the center of our campground loop.