While the epic views and the the prospect of our first Westslope Cutthroat trout propelled us to go on this very busy hike, we were pretty surprised to discover just how special these cute little cuttys really are!
Avalanche Lake is the most popular hike in West Glacier. Thousands, if not millions, flock to this beautiful lake surrounded by picturesque peaks and towering waterfalls. We almost skipped Avalanche Lake because of our aversion to crowds, but after discovering that there are some cutthroat trout in the lake, we had to go for the views and the fish. Little did we know that the first Westslope Cutthroat trout we would catch would be pretty special.
The first part of the trail is on a board walk through a dense forest of huge cedar trees reminiscent of the Redwood forests in northern California. At the end of the board walk is a bridge over Avalanche Creek at the bottom of a narrow gorge. The aqua-colored water flowing through the steep reddish rock gorge with green vegetation hanging on the walls was just as striking in person as in photos.
The trail mostly follows Avalanche Creek all the way to the foot of the lake. Sometimes the trail is next to the creek where we could feel the cool air coming off the freshly melted water, while other times the trail wandered away and it was quite warm despite the shade. The hike reminded us a lot of the Pacific Northwest with similarly thick vegetation. The west side of the park is much different than the drier east side and it showed on this hike.
After 2.3 miles, the trail emerges onto a sandy beach with the classic view of the Avalanche Lake cirque and the numerous waterfalls flowing from Sperry Glacier.
It is definitely worth while to take in the view, but in our opinion the better option is to continue on the trail to the other end where all of the inlet creeks flow into the lake. There are much less people and the fishing is better!
After the hike to the western shore of the lake, we dropped our packs in between the many inlet creeks and busted out our fishing poles. We had heard there were some cutthroat in the lake and after a few prospecting casts I landed one on an olive simi seal leach. Our first Westslope Cutthroat!
After landing a few more cuttys on both leeches and lures, we had lunch with a view, and headed back down the trail.
It wasn’t until our drive back to Missoula that discovered more about these little Westslopes. We came across a cool archived article from a Kalispell newspaper detailing how a scientist deduced that the Westslope Cutthroat Trout in Avalanche lake are a native, genetically pure strain. He concluded this after studying the silt and insect life, and therefore trout life, of the lake from the last 300 years. Moreover, the Avalanche Creek gorge provides the perfect fish barrier to prevent invasive species from migrating up the creek and into the lake to interbreed with the Westslopes. These fish have been living in their own little world for at least 300 years, most likely longer. We caught some OG Westslopes – pretty awesome.
