Almost due north of Missoula is Glacier (or Glayshah, as the locals call it) National Park and the skies got bluer and the hills got clearer as we got nearer. Leaving Missoula there was a distinct change in the scenery almost immediately as the foothills had a slight tinge of green about them rather than the very dry brown of yesterday.
The first feature of note was Flathead Lake, the shores of which are the source of Flathead cherries, and which is the biggest natural freshwater lake west of the Mississippi. That is quite surprising as it is not really that large.
Following advice from the park Visitor Centre we took the free 12-seater shuttle bus up to the Avalanche Lake stop arriving about 1600 and set off on the 2.5m walk to Avalanche Lake.
Mindful of the time that the last shuttle left (1800) we romped past all the other walkers on the track - and there were plenty, stopped briefly to photograph and Elk (?) and got to the lake in time for a short rest and a few photos before making the downhill return trip.
Back at the shuttle bus stop at 1745 we were a little dismayed to see a queue of 24 people ahead of us. Three shuttle buses arrived, already full and one actually added people to the queue. It looked as though a situation was developing. However, the bus organisers are obviously used to this problem and a 40-seater bus turned up to take us all back to base.
166 miles today, total trip 4726. States: Montana
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