A Perfect Montana Mountain Day!

Monday, August 18, 2014

The rain started during the evening, but by this morning stopped. The skies were bright blue and a breeze was picking up when we started out from our campsite to the North Shore Trailhead. We began the four mile hike along Two Medicine Lake to Twin Falls. The trail was mostly level with a few ups and downs and the temperature was comfortable for shorts and tee-shirts. Yay! Following the lake shore we walked through fir tree forests and noticed berries, wildflowers, and seed heads. There were a lot of dead and dying trees from bark beetle damage. A few other hikers were on the trail, so even though there were bear warnings, we figured there was enough human traffic to keep them away.

This was a popular and well-beaten path

Two Medicine Lake

Perfectly shaped glacial valley

Blueberries?

Lots of beetle-killed firs

When we reached Twin Falls we waited a few minutes until the other hikers finished their lunches and cleared out, then we sat at the base of the most accessible of the two falls. Gorgeousness!!!! The sun was shining off the water and we could feel the spray from the falls. We weren't alone for long, so we started back down the trail and took the turn for the boat dock. A mile later we arrived at the west end of the lake and found a crowd of people waiting for the next boat. The shuttle service would take us back to the east end of the lake and then we could hike back to the campground.

New bridge across Twin Falls Creek

The left, bigger, of the falls

The smaller, right twin

Pine beetle "circuit boards"

The upper end of Two Medicine lake

Waiting for the boat

 When the boat arrived it was obvious that there wasn't going to be enough room for everyone. The people with the roundtrip tickets got to board first. The boat would return in fifteen minutes to make an extra trip for the rest of the people. Once the ticketed people boarded they said there was room for a party of four. They kept repeating, “Is there a party of four?” I finally said, “How about two parties of two?” So, we got on ahead of the rest of the crowd, and two single people joined us to fill up the boat. A little creative thinking and acting got us on before the others.

The boat ride was beautiful! We were in the very back of an historic wooden touring boat. The tour guide had a constant narration going about the geology. We couldn't hear her, but Greg had been studying his Montana geology book and educating me, so we just sat back and enjoyed the glacially carved peaks around the lake. When we arrived at the dock, Greg had a treat for me. On his walks the day before he discovered the general store and had scoped out the merchandise. We got ice cream to eat on the hike back to our campsite!

It was easy to appreciate the boat trip after a few hours of hiking. The wilderness boat dock.

The General Store from the water before we docked.

Back at the lower end of the lake.

This is the boat that carried us.

The general store stocked important survival supplies, like ice cream!

Looking back up the lake from the campground.

Looking down the lake toward our campsite

The rest of the afternoon was spent sitting in the sun and wind, reading and watching a black bear on the slopes above us grazing on lots of ripe berries. Glacier Park made up for the crazy Logan Pass weather of two days ago by gracing us with a nearly perfect Montana mountain day!