Stunning photo of Gibson Lake

Gibson Lake

This is a stunning photo that I found a good location for.  Most spots showed the fallen trees lining the bottom of the lake, but this spot found a nice reflection for the sky and the majestic mountains in the background.

The stream coming out of Gibson Lake (below) travels down the hills to the Kootenai Lake which is actually the head waters of the Columbia River.  Talk about putting things in perspective.

Gibson Lake below Kokanee Glacier

In the picture below the lake, of the avalanche path, those mountain peaks are at least 3,000 feet above us.  Every slope of the mountains seemed to have those slices of cleared trees through them, where bushes are now growing.  Meaning avalanches happen quite often up there!

Above the old growth forest, we continued driving on the logging road for another 5 to 6 km and we came to a large parking area.  I wish I had taken some pictures of the trucks in that lot.  They were nearly all surrounded by chicken wire.  Apparently porcupines are a problem up there – they will gnaw on brake cables and tires and whatnot.  After getting out of the car and walking around, we quickly discovered Gibson Lake.  This is a large but shallow lake under the glacier area.

Hiking around old growth cedars

Hiking around in the Kokanee Glacier park, we first climbed up a rough wash-boarded logging road, where 4-wheel drive is recommended.  We had to go extremely slow as a result of having a low front-wheel-drive hatchback.  5 km up the logging road, there is a little parking area to hike around in old growth cedar forest.  It was very serene and beautiful.  It felt a little like being in northern California (but to be honest, the Muir Woods monument is still the most peaceful “temple” of nature I have ever been in).  With that said, we encountered several trees that were between 500 and 800 years old and the one oldest tree is 850 years old.  There were great signs explaining everything about the old growth forest – animals, riparian areas, trees, insects, etc.  Everything was very well marked!  Someone is doing an incredible job of trail maintenance and education up there.