Day 3 in Glacier National Park
Once again we hit the road early, but with a slightly different game plan. We decided to head to the Two Medicine area of the park. Since the Two Medicine area occupies the south eastern part of the park, it made more sense to take Hwy 2 around the southern tip of the park rather than the Going to the Sun road again. Since Hwy 2 is a regular road with a speed limit of at least 60mph, this was by far the quickest way to go. We then entered the park through the town of East Glacier where we stopped for a nice breakfast before heading into Two Medicine.It was another beautiful day, breezy and cool. We passed Lower Two Medicine Lake which was (to use a word I've probably already overused!) beautiful.
The road into Two Medicine pretty much ends at Middle Two Medicine Lake. There's a small store near the lake with a great fireplace. There is also a boat dock which offers tours of the lake and quick access to the opposite shore and additional trailheads.
After reviewing the maps we decide to take the Scenic Point Trail. This trail is a 3 mile hike that gains 2300+ feet to a view of the surrounding mountains. Did I mention that the trail gains 2300+ feet? AND was very, very windy?! This called for numerous rest periods! Okay, some of us had to rest more than others. I kept saying I needed to stop for pictures, just to catch my breath. And Lori had suddenly turned into a mountain climbing drill instructor! Gary and I decided that if we could have caught her we'd have thrown her off the mountain! But she was just too darn quick! But I'm glad to say that in the end the views were worth the trek.
After we made it back down the mountain from the Scenic Point trail we were ready for a snack/lunch break. We then decided to take the short .6 mile round trip trail to Running Eagle Falls, also known as Trick Falls. This was a nice easy hike to an unusual waterfall. Apparently during spring run off the water flows over the top part of the rock formation. During late summer, the spring run off dries up and you can then see that there is actually a separate waterfall underneath it flowing from a large crevice in the rock.
We timed our return from the falls so that we could catch the boat that would take us across Middle Two Medicine lake to the trailheads for Upper Two Medicine Lake and for Twin Falls. Since we had to be sure to be back at the dock in time to catch the last boat we decided we didn't have time to take the trail to Upper Two Medicine. We ended up taking a guided 1 mile hike to Twin Falls. It was nice taking the guided tour, as the guide was able to point out the different flora and fauna, as well as bear sign.
We successfully caught the last boat back. On the way across the lake a black bear was spotted on one of the nearby hillsides. When they are that distance away they can be pretty darn hard to find using the binoculars but we all finally saw him!
With that success in mind we left Two Medicine and headed happily down the road to East Glacier for dinner and a piece of huckleberry pie. Then back to the cabin to soak in the hot tub and make our plans for our final full day in Glacier National Park.
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