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| Hiking | 1.25 Miles |
25 AEG |
| | Hiking | 1.25 Miles | | | |
| 25 ft AEG | | | | |
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| no partners | | It started raining off and on yesterday starting around noon. This morning the blustery weather stepped up a notch. I suspected there may not be a ranger-guided hike to Rockwell Falls at Two Medicine. I tried a new MRE for breakfast, strawberry granola with cold water; it was delightful. I did go get a coffee at the KOA.
As usual, on my drive I would stop for pictures; especially back toward the St Mary Lake Valley which was engulfed with the colorful cold and windy and wet weather. They are still working on the highway so traffic was stopped for a while and then we had to follow a pilot car for several miles. I think they are expecting to finally finish it this year; Obviously a short season for construction. I finally headed up Highway 49, Looking Glass Road and as usual it didn't disappoint; a rough son of a gun but I like driving it. The weather continued to worsen and the temp dropped to the mid 40s. And looking up the Two Medicine Valley it was pretty socked in.
I stopped at the Ranger Station to see if they were going to do the hike. Ranger Hagan said, "don't I know you?" And I told him I was on the same hike with him ten years ago. He said he wasn't sure about the hike but to wait at the boat dock. The weather hadn't improved so this desert lizard would have to pass on the hike. Two others did go.
I went to the Two Medicine store to get some coffee to warm me up. Why this dude I didn't know decided he should bring his bottle of wine and sit at my small table is beyond me; one of the weirdest experiences I've ever had. After about ten minutes of that I bid him goodbye and went to get my two 6-packs of Huck It. Last summer I couldn't find it anywhere and this year it's everywhere.
Oh ya, the hike. They have made quite a few changes to the trail including paving the path to the river Bank. There is also new signage that includes a nature trail. The weather still had not improved. As you get closer to the river you can hear the roar of the Falls. I made my way across the bridge and over toward where you had a better view of the Falls. I walked a little further and then headed east along a use path until it was thick with aspens and turned around. There were quite a few wildflowers on both sides of the river so I wandered for a bit before heading back on the main path.
I did do the nature trail but got off on one of the side use trails as I saw a nice smattering of wildflowers closer to the river. There was this most intensely bright green moss on some of the rocks in the river; I don't recall ever seeing that before. Eventually I couldn't get any further and saw a narrow but thick with flora path to cross over. Well that was a mistake as I got pretty wet.
I always enjoy this little hike and now I had time to burn. The place I planned for lunch was closed on Tuesdays so I ended up at Two Medicine Grill Diner, had homemade soup and onion rings, and read the week old paper. Interestingly I found out there is a half-marathon they run on Looking Glass Road, how beautiful of a run that would be!
I ended up at Glacier Park Lodge to kill more time; it was also still lightly raining. After buying some Huckleberry chocolate stuff, I sat near the big fireplace and did some texting. Then I walked and filmed the very long garden as there was a break in the weather. The garden was not in the best of shape, lots of grass which is such a shame. The gardener was out there but seemed to be mostly talking rather than weeding.
On my way to the motel I picked up a thru-hiker as I saw he had a resupply box (that box was heavy) and wearing a backpack. Come to find out he's on the last leg of his triple crown and would be heading to the Bob Marshall Wilderness toward Lincoln. I dropped him at Brownies where other hikers recognized him. I would actually come back over to Brownies, it's just down the road from where I was staying, and visit with him for a bit as I had picked up some things to eat.
Tomorrow it's off to Chester to meet up with Cousin Connie, lunch and a museum before heading to the ranch. Fortunately she's willing to let me stay a few days early.
drive from St Mary to Two Medicine Lake and hike [ youtube video ] (haven't reviewed yet 8-19-2023)
Glacier Park Lodge and Garden walk [ youtube video ] |
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Wildflowers Observation Moderate
Paintbrush, Birchleaf Spiraea, Clover, Showy Fleabane, Blanketflower, Goldenrod, Northern Bedstraw, Thinleaf Alder, Thimbleberry |
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For me, sometimes it's just as much about the journey as the destination.
Oh, and once in awhile, don't forget to look back at the trail you've traveled. |
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. Nonetheless, we had a nice conversation before others started coming up and asking questions so we left.
as we were rewarded with lots of late blooming flowers and watching a group of American Dippers; apparently training the younger ones to hop the river (according to a bird watcher we encountered). They are noisy but I did get some good video of them as they moved up the river.
. The food was superb as always. I don't know what they cook those steaks on or in but the flavor is awesome.
with huckleberry syrup and bacon. If I ever have a last meal, that would be my request. ](https://hikearizona.com/dex2/images/smilies/eusa_wall.gif "Brick wall"){kind=small}
. I also explained to the morning desk staff about the fiasco with the bear spray and that the afternoon desk staff were a little on the rude side. 
viewing platform... well that is certainly new but how nice. There was a family frolicking just below the falls in the shallow water. There is an off-trail that continues up toward the falls. It doesn't get quite high enough to see the water flowing from the top and it is quite steep, especially coming down.
. I sat at the counter as it was packed. I couldn't decide what to eat so I had a cup of Big John's Chili with cheese and crunchy pita chips (the chips were great with the chili) and onion rings. There were so many crispy/tender onion rings I only ate half the basket but of course, the highlight was the 
at the campsite it was off to the Two Medicine area and Glacier Park Lodge via the Kiowa Loop 
. We stopped at a turn out where we could make out two large crosses thinking they were probably for road fatalities but in fact, that was not the case. Instead it was a memorial to two members of the Blackfeet Reservation which borders Glacier Park. The weather got really nasty up on the bluff but you could see Upper Two Medicine and Two Medicine Lake from here as well as the mountains to the West.
which was almost hard to do this time because there was SO MUCH water coming over.
to accomodate the volume of water this year. It presented some nice photo ops. Right behind this view was a camera for a bat research project.
