August 16 – Lake McDonald – North Shore Trail
We had planned to hike to Huckleberry Mountain Lookout this day but we were too worn out from hiking in the heat the previous two days to try another hike with considerable elevation change. We looked for something on the west side without a lot of elevation change. We settled on the trail on the north shore of Lake McDonald which none of us had hiked before. The trail can be accessed from the Fish Lake Campground or from the Inside North Fork Road. Lake McDonald is visible from many sections of the trail but other sections are in more wooded areas. Most of this area burned in the mid-2000s.
In addition to the heat this day the sky was very smokey and hazy. While hiking in the Jewel Basin the previouse day we saw the smoke from two fires - the one to the south that is shown in the picture from Mt. Aeneas and another fire that was on the east side of the Hungry Horse Resevoir. The smoke duiring this day's hike could have been from either or both of thoswe fires. Much of the day it filled the sky.
Lake McDonald and Smokey Sky
- D-2 Lake McDonald.JPG (235.48 KiB) Viewed 493 times
Lake McDonald from the Trail
- D-3 Lake McDonald from Trail.JPG (177.97 KiB) Viewed 493 times
Fireweed Seedheads
- D-4 Fireweed Seeds.JPG (197.79 KiB) Viewed 493 times
Hollyhock
- D-6 Hollyhocks.JPG (78.89 KiB) Viewed 493 times
On the Trail
- D-7 Mike, Julie and Claire on Trail.JPG (340.74 KiB) Viewed 493 times
Lake McDonald Campground Area - Campsites were scattered throughout this area.
- D-8 Campground Area.JPG (320.9 KiB) Viewed 493 times
Beach Area Adjacent to the Campground
- D-12 Lake McDonald & Swimmers.JPG (187.54 KiB) Viewed 493 times
Flute Music on the Beach (The boat is a NPS boat used by two park rangers visiting the campground.)
- D-14 Nina and Flute.JPG (332 KiB) Viewed 493 times
The hike from the parking area on the Inside North Fork Road to the campground was five miles so a ten mile round trip hike. After a nice lunch break at the beach on Lake McDonald (with some of us swimming in the lake) we headed back. When we started the car at the gravel parking are the car thermometer read 94 degrees.
Dinner was at the Sunflower Café in the Glacier Campground on Highway 2 a short distance from the KOA.