After a good night of sleep we headed to the Flathead. On the way we took a detour and fished Moccasin Creek, a small tributary to the Flathead. The first pool I hit yielded the only fishes, brookies.
I pulled around ten out of this spot. When I waded beyond I noticed around fifty brookies sitting on the bottom. They scattered as soon as I got close. I turned around and headed down stream to the confluence of Moccasin and the Flathead. No fish here but it's a beautiful spot.
This spot looked ultra fishy but it wasn't. We drove a little further and checked another spot.
This spot proved much better.
This little cutthroat and this semi-respectable rainbow both fell for an olive skittering caddis. The water was so crystal clear that I could see the fish rise to my fly from six feet down. It's difficult to hook 'em because you anticipate the strike but it's difficult to judge how far away from the surface they are. I missed a few decent ones due to premature hook sets. After an hour or so on the Flathead we headed into the park to check out the water and hike.
Lots of pretty water, not enough time! After checking out some rivers we decided to spend the rest of the day hiking. We headed to Avalanche Lake Trail and began the hike on the Trail of the Cedars.
I've never seen such big trees! After a short jaunt among these giants we continued onto the lake trail. We hiked around 2.5 miles on an uphill trail, traveling among massive trees and mossy boulders. We emerged out of the forest onto the shores of Avalanche Lake, a lake fed by springs and glacial melt water.
On the trail we talked to a few fellas with fly rods who'd said they had good luck. Already regretting our decision to leave the gear in the car, we spotted tons of pan-sized cutthroats eager to take the fly. It was painful to see but it leaves us with another excuse to come back.
The first picture doesn't make sense without the second!
After a much faster hike back we headed to McDonald Creek for some lunch and a few more casts. Lots of people lined the banks of the river skipping stones and picnicking. I headed for a spring seepage that fed the creek. It brimmed with little cutthroats.
After pulling in around twenty of these I headed to the main stream. On my way to the creek I ran into these footprints.
The first one may look like a deer print but it was HUGE! Definitely a moose. The second print measured about eight inches across, probably a grizzly. I'm glad I didn't run into either of these two.
I approached the creek a little more cautious of my surroundings. After catching a few little cutties I headed back to the car. We headed to Kalispell for a late dinner and some firewood. We returned to camp, built a fire, and basked in its warmth until bed.
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