Tall Pines Hiker: Trail of the Cedars Avalanche ski

Today I went cross country skiing in Glacier Park with Joyce, Bill, and Sue Ann. We skied along the Sun Road. Sue Ann and I skied all the way to Avalanche.

At the north end of Lake McDonald we decided to go to the bridge over McDonald Creek. Sue Ann was ahead and took the road. Joyce decided we should cut across using a trail. She handled the up-and-downs well but both Bill and I crashed at the bottom of a dip.

After crossing the bridge we continued on and caught the McDonald Creek trail on the west side of the creek. Sue Ann was hesitant about taking the trail as she was concerned it wouldn't be level, but she had no problems. Joyce did well and only took her skis off once. Bill was slower and only took his skis off when Joyce did. Me, on the other hand, had problems on a couple uphill sections. The snow was a touch icy at times and I had no traction going uphill. I discovered my ski's bottoms were smooth and had no scales. Apparently there is wax to: not make the snow stick, wax to help you go faster, and wax to make the skis grab the snow. I needed the 'grab snow' wax. Trying to fish bone or go sideways didn't help as it was much easier to take the skis off and walk up.

Our route is the seen on the map at the 1 and 2 of McDonald Falls and Sacred Dancing Cascades. We crossed back across McDonald Creek via the newly rebuilt horse bridge.

McDonald Creek was low with lots of snow. Sue Ann and I skied ahead and eventually reached Avalanche Creek. Bill and Joyce turned around before reaching Avalanche. I figured since Bill and Joyce weren't with us we would turn around at the creek but as I took a photo of the creek Sue Ann took off on the Trail of the Cedars. Okay...

Eventually I caught up to Sue Ann at Avalanche Falls where she had stopped to grab a bite to eat and wait for me. The water was way down and it was hard to see the falls from the bridge.

Then it was quickly back to Bill and Joyce. A moose had been out and about. It's legs sunk deep in the snow making deep holes. It didn't walk in a straight line and crossed back and forth over the ski tracks which made it annoying to ski over especially when one of my ski poles would drop into a hole affecting my balance.

We hadn't seen anyone else out on the road until we were almost back to Joyce's car. A woman skiing alone had stopped and only began to ski when we got closer to her. She said she had waited as she saw a deer off the road and was watching it.

Sue Ann - being Sue Ann - launched into her life story. This poor woman could barely get a word in edgewise. I tried to interrupt and asked the woman where she was from, When she said Vermont, Sue Ann then launched into stories about an ex-boyfriend from Vermont and her visits there. I gave up and skied on ahead. I know... leaving this poor woman to Sue Ann was not the nicest thing to do but we were almost back to Joyce's car and I was getting pretty tired by this point.

Joyce had made and brought a huckleberry pie for us to eat after skiing. When we drove to Glacier I was in charge on ensuring the pie did not tip over and its juice spill. Well... the pie did not tip over, but in placing the pie by my side I accidentally rested my elbow on the pie and it dented the top crust and the juice squeezed out. Oopps.

The pie still tasted good and afterward Joyce gave me the last two pieces of the pie to eat later so I guess I was forgiven.

We had started skiing a little after 11 am and it wasn't until 4:11 pm that Sue Ann and I returned to Joyce's car where she and Bill were waiting. Well... not quite waiting as they were gone when we arrived. The fan for the heater in Joyce's car didn't work and she drove around a little while in hope of it starting up. It hadn't, but before we got out of the Park the fan started to blow and we finally warmed up and defogged the car windows.

After we dropped Sue Ann off and were driving on the road one of Bill's skis fell off the car onto the right lane of the road. I had Joyce back up and move into a parking lot and then - even though I was very tired and vegging in the back seat - I summoned up some adrenaline and ran - still wearing my ski shoes - and got the ski just before the traffic came. That was close. Bill's ski was alright. He forgot to latch the ski rack after helping Sue Ann take her ski from the rack.

Photo 1: north road above Lake McDonald
Photo 2: McDonald Creek trail. Watch out for those trees!