A Quick Trip to Belton
We decided to be more determined to get to Glacier National Park this year. In the past few years since we moved here, we just haven’t gotten to the park and hiked like we normally would. So this year we booked three differenet trips to some of the lodges in and around the park. First up is the Historic Belton Lodge just outside the west entrance to the park at Apgar. This lodge is a a timeless design that really standes out with its western roofline extending much futher than the eastern side.
Day One
We arrived a couple of hours early for check-in and decided to walk around the property and take a short hike through Apgar and the South Boundary Trail. The photo above is now the restaurant and tap room with the actual lodge sitting behind the original structure. Please note, this lodge is very old and creaky and sits across the street from the very busy BNSF rail line. The hotel does provide earplugs and a sound machine which is helpful.
After our hike we checked in to our room and headed down for our 6:30 dinner reservation at the restaurant. The food was amazing and the atmosphere was excellent. After dinner, we decided to head into the park to catch some sights with the golden light. We first visited Sacred Dancing Cascade that has a really nice walk bridge over McDonald Creek that makes for easiy viewing. Next we stopped by McDonald Falls that sits just above Lake McDonald. Unfortunatley, there really isn’t a good view of the falls for photography from this location. Next time I will hike the trail on the other side of McDonald Creek to see if it provides a better vantage. After the falls, we stopped and walked around the Lake McDonald Lodge and enjoyed the views of the boats availalble there. The light was really good and the docked boats always make for a good subject in front of the mountains. Finally, we stopped as we always do at the Apgar Picnic area to enjoy the view. This really is a great spot to take in the views of Lake McDonald.
Historic Belton Chalet and Lodge
Apgar & South Boundary Trail
Sacred Dancing Cascade
Lake McDonald Lodge
Apgar Picnic Area
Day Two
After waking up and eating a quick breakfast that we brought with us we checked out and headed back into the park. Our plan today was to simply drive over Logan Pass and the Going to the Sun road and to stop at whatever caught our interest and more importantly, had a parking spot. This was the day that we drove by Avalanche trail head and were able to grab a parking spot. We have been by Avalanche several times over the past few years and have never been able to park. Since we were able to park, we hiked the Trail of the Cedars, Avalanche Gorge and took in the views of Avalanche Lake. It is easy to see why this is one of the most popular and busiest trails in the park.
Avalanche Lake sites below a shelf that contains the Sperry Glacier. With this there are several waterfalls that drain from Sperry Glacier and flow into Avalance Lake. The Glacier sits a few thousand feet above Avalanche Lake so the the waterfalls are very dramatic. Thanks for looking.
