It's About the (RV) Journey....: Glacier National Park-Two Medicine ..............

Just an aside before I get going on this post: Unfortunately, there is a fire going on in the park, about 30 miles away. For more information, click here. It is in the area near St. Mary's...where we were during my last post. Most of the hikes we have taken so far would not be possible to do right now. The road is closed from St. Mary's and Logan Pass, and then some, and the fire is still raging. We are staying in the west end of the park, and you would never know there was a huge raging forest fire, except for the helicopters that fly over our campground. Forest fires are a part of the cycle of life and are supposed to be good, but its just so sad to know that its in or near that beautiful area we just enjoyed so much. (Plus...well....remember Bambi?) In our remaining few days here, we will be exploring the west side of the park and the McDonald Lake area, and hope to get to the Many Glacier area soon, which is on the other side of the park. Since we most likely won't be able to take the Going-to-the-Sun road through the park, we will have to drive around another way and its a long drive. We'll see.

Enjoying some reading time on our "patio"

Two Medicine is another area of the park, located on the east side. It is about an hour and a half drive from West Glacier, and is a quiet side of the park. The drive over there was gorgeous, as you can see from the pictures below. As we drove into the park, we saw "dark things" on the side of the road, but when we got up close enough, the "wildlife" was actually cattle! Hahah!

heading into Two Medicine-Glacier Park

a cow????

Our plan was to take the Park Service sightseeing boat over to the trailhead, and then hike to Upper Medicine Lake and Twin Falls. For more information, click here. The hike with the boat ride is about 4.5 miles. Otherwise, its a 10 miler. Perfect...since we wanted to take a boat ride on one of the lakes here anyway:)

The first boat of the day went out at 9, and the next one at 10:30. Would you believe, we got there at 2 minutes to 9 and were able to make that boat! Wow! We didn't even have time to find a bathroom (after the long ride) before heading out...but no worries, Tom found one once we got to the other side of the lake. Two Medicine Lake is a gorgeous lake, surrounded by pristine forest. We really enjoyed the boat trip.

the historic Two Medicine General Store

cruising on Two Medicine Lake

pristine

docked at the other end of the lake

Once to the other side, the trail begins as a boardwalk over a boggy area. We looked for moose, but did not spot any. Maybe because a whole bunch of us just got off the boat! Haha! We headed out to Twin Falls, about a mile away, and we were reminded we were in prime bear country with the berries. So, we made a lot of noise and had no problem.

ready Susie??

looking for moose

no moose here either

we need to make a lot of noise here!

nice mountain peak!

lots of bridges on this trail (well, ok, like 3?)

so pretty...mountain stream

another bridge...a little narrower!

approaching Twin Falls

love the wildflowers

Before long we reached the falls. At first, we saw only one as we approached from the trail. But, there actually were "twin" falls. Two of them! They must have been fraternal, since they did not look alike. (Sorry! Stupid twin fact!). It was a very cool and refreshing spot, perfect for lunch. It was too early though!

such a pretty "garden"

Falls #1

Falls #2

Twin Falls!

great spot for lunch..too bad its so early

Next we headed out to Two Medicine Lake, which was also an enjoyable hike through the hills and past some prime moose and bear country. We chatted with some backpackers that had spent the night at the lake, and they had seen a moose family....right at the lake! After that, we were walking quietly and trying to spot moose, but to no avail. They really are elusive!

heading to the lake

looking for moose

really great hike....

We passed a pond, and spent some time just observing...again waiting it out to see if we could spot any moose. We try to be patient so we can spot movement. As big as they are, they are often very hard to see unless they are out in the open.

looking for moose in the pond area

I'm not seeing any moose Tom

looking real hard

heading to the lake...just up and over the hill and through the pines

oh, and the rock faces are beautiful too

view from the top of the hill...still don't see any moose

woah...is fall coming?

Upper Two Medicine Lake was just beyond the evergreen trees. We were surprised that we pretty much had the whole place to ourselves. Just one other couple, who were just lovely. We had some good conversation during our half hour or so stop here. We also had lunch...another perfect spot.

maybe the moose are at the lake?

so pretty...surrounded by the rock cliffs

gorgeous view of Upper Two Medicine Lake

another shot

The fish in the lake were jumping right out, and I eventually got a picture of that! We had fun watching that, as well as the ducks flying in and "fishing" for their lunch. Just sitting there watching everything was cool. The light was just right so we could see the reflection of the mountains on the water. And the water was so clear and green/blue. Just beautiful.

look at the fish jump right out of the water!

there were a ton of them, but hard to photograph

the duck "fishes" by paddling across the lake and then diving under-so fun to watch!

washing it down?

oop...it dove under water

great colors in the rock!

surrounding the lake

another great view...with reflections too:)

another hidden gem in Glacier

After a bit, we headed back so we could get the 1:30 boat. The boats only run every hour and a half or so. If the boat is full, they promise to send another boat to pick up the rest of the people. We admired the views of the mountains on the way back. Its always interesting how different the way back looks! We paused at the pond for a bit more...just in case a moose or two were hanging around, but we didn't see any and continued on our way.

lots of different ecosystems here

heading back down to the boat

glacially carved rock

oh, here's the moose pond again!

sorry Tom...don't see any moose today

heading back now

just look at the color of the rocks...very pretty...

sweet

We stopped at the "butterfly garden" to try to get some pictures. Not sure what flowers they were, but there were a ton of butterflies in that one particular area. We had a lot of time until the boat would come again, so we spent some time here too, just fooling around with the cameras.

Once we got back to the dock area, we had about a 45 minute wait or so. No problem, it was lovely just hanging out in such a beautiful spot! Tom spotted a pair of bald eagles soaring above us, so we watched them for quite a bit. So graceful! Not sure if there was a nest nearby, but these eagles really soared way up there. All of us waiting at the dock enjoyed the show.

another prime moose spot...but none today

beautiful view of the lake from the dock area

don't you think there is a moose in there somewhere?

soaring so high above us

wow

majestic!

that may be their nest??

cool!

The boat cruised in and about 50 people got off! Wow! Turns out, it was also a ranger led hike to the Twin Falls, which drew the crowd. We had a nice return boat ride, and we all fit on the boat! Haha! What an enjoyable hike/boat ride! We passed a few folks in kayaks and another dude resting near his wooden boat. The captain of our boat mentioned that the guy built the boat himself. Impressive! Once we got off the boat, we took some pictures we didn't have time to take before getting on...since we just made that sailing....and we also got the chance to go to the Two Medicine Lake General store, which is on the historic register. Its the only chalet type original building left in Two Medicine. (I think Teddy Roosevelt made a speech from that chalet too).

here comes our ride now

the views heading back

beautiful and healthy looking forest

Tom helping to navigate - hahah

pleasant ride back

this boat was made by hand!

okay....back on shore

here come the rain clouds!

Two Medicine General Store-time to shop

Before heading out of the Two Medicine area of the park, we stopped at Running Eagle Falls, which also had short nature hike at the trailhead. The skies opened up and it just poured when we got there. We waited a few minutes for it to let up, and then proceeded in the rain to the falls. Were we glad we did! It was awesome. At this time of year, the water doesn't flow over the top, but comes from the middle of the rock. We just thought it was so cool. The weather cleared up quickly and we walked on the little nature hike too, which was nice. A good leg-stretcher before the long ride back. (Since it was pouring rain when we started out, I didn't bring my camera on this little jaunt...just my cell phone. The pics came out ok!)

sturdy bridge to the other side of the creek

the water is so clear and the rocks are pretty too!

gorgeous colors, right?

we were mesmerized by the water flowing out of the rock

in the spring, the water comes over the top of the rock too

so cool

the rest of the river...so crystal clear!

great scenery here!

We decided to take another route home, which would involve driving the entire Going-to-the-Sun road as part of the drive. Did I mention how scenic that road was? Before we got to that though, we were traveling in a beautiful area outside the park (Rt. 49 and 89). Check out the views below. And...we had quite the surprise when we saw a grizzly cub run across the road in front of us. I could hardly get my camera out fast enough! The mom was waiting on the other side. Thankfully, we were in the car and not on the trail.

looking for cubby

where is that little guy?

aahh...there he is

don't want to run into this scene on the trail!

cool pics with the weather moving in

is that a painting or what?

wide open spaces

different environment on this side of the park! (outside the park)

following the road to Glacier

weather..coming fast and furious

time to head out

the views are so nice

another

Heading back over the Going-to-the-Sun Road, we made a stop at a scenic overlook near Logan Pass to gawk at the views from there. You can see part of the road as it winds around the mountain. We stopped a couple more times too, since the lighting was incredible. The weather changes quite a bit in one day, which totally changes the view! What beautiful views. We will savor them now...because that very scenic part of the road near Logan Pass is now closed until the fire is under control. I'm afraid those were our last views on this trip to Glacier.