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| | | Upper Two Medicine Lake via North Shore, MT | | | |
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Upper Two Medicine Lake via North Shore, MT
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| Hiking | 7.99 Miles |
800 AEG |
| | Hiking | 7.99 Miles | 4 Hrs 22 Mns | | 2.14 mph |
| 800 ft AEG | 38 Mns Break | | | |
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[ show ]
| partners | | I sure didn't want to do a big hike today and even though this wasn't necessarily a big hike, it was more than what I had in mind. However, we were going to be hiking with Bill, Jim, McKenzie and another friend of theirs, Nina, that had driven quite a ways to be here so I had to buck up as they say and go for it. At least we were going to be hiking it from the North Shore Trail and that would be fun to hike below Rising Wolf directly.
So after getting our breakfast, a huge cinnamon roll that was very good, we car pooled over to Two Medicine via Starr School Road rather than over on 89 so as to avoid the construction delay. I can't believe after all these decades they are just now deciding to straighten out a part of 89 between Kiowa Loop and St Mary. This meant traversing through Browning which is always a bit of an adventure. We did get to see some bison on Hiwy 2 and of course, the views to the mountains, in spite of the smoke, is always quite the sight.
We parked in the overflow lot at Two Medicine and watered and geared up for our day around 9:30AM. It looks like in low water you can cross the inlet between Two Med and Pray Lake but most of us decided to walk around. Wendy and McKenzie took their boots off to cross and met us when we finally got over there. First we had to go around the east side of Pray Lake which I had only really seen on maps but never in person so that was kind of cool. You cross a nice bridge over Two Medicine Creek where there is a notice posted about another bridge on the Pitamakan Trail that is out. This trail is also considered Dawson Pass Trail and part of the Continental Divide (CDT) Trail but today we were hiking it as North Shore Trail.
You are in and out of the forest and are in and out of views toward the lake. McKenzie took off way ahead while the rest of us lingered back from time to time to check out the flora. Bill's friend Nina had good knowledge of the fir trees and she was showing us the difference in pine cones. Most of us also like to know the flora so we were IDing some as we went. We crossed a couple dry drainages and then I came upon some stalled hikers. They said they could see a bear and I finally saw a little bit of fur. Well this little bit of fur was suddenly up the tree and was obviously a cub. In spite of bad lighting, I snapped away and got a couple good pics before it decided to make haste back down the tree and away. As we progressed through here we yelled aggressively but momma was nowhere to be seen. We were so pleased to have seen that cute little cub.
But now, onward we traveled encountering a few folks along the way as we got closer to the triple intersection. We paused here for a moment for Jim's remembrance. As we walked forward we got a couple glimpses of Pumpelly's Pillar through the trees. Our next stop was Twin Falls which is just slightly off the main trail. This year there were only a few people here vs last year and only the one falls was flowing. There was a log below the main falls and both Wendy and McKenzie walked out on it. You can also climb up to the north falls which a couple people had done.
Now that the group was all back together, we needed to complete that last mile and 1/2 or so to the Upper Two Medicine Lake. We passed by the little lake in front of it as you go slightly up to get to the main lake. We looked for wildlife but didn't see any. We got to the Lake and had our snack in the Food Prep area which is pretty close to it. This would be a great area for a beginner or "easy does it" backpack. You have beautiful scenery. One of the backpackers had arrived and he had a huge bear canister with all sorts of food stuff in it. He was apparently carrying it for the group. You don't need bear canisters in Glacier, just a bear bag and technically a lot of people just use regular dry bags. And here at Upper Two Med they actually have a bear box.
We all used the privy and met at its intersection where there also happened to be a lot of Subalpine Spiraea. On our way out we took them over to the little waterfall of Two Medicine Creek we saw last year and there was definitely a little more water flow. As we headed back to the boat dock we encountered quite a few more people including parents looking for their children. As we were crossing the bridge over Two Medicine Creek we also ran into one of the groups that came off the boat for a little hike and were heading back. From here you walk through a heavily forested area with lots of ferns and little bogs here and there. We found a couple huckleberries and other berry bushes as well.
We got to the boat dock and it looked like we wouldn't make the boat as it would be full. Ticketed passengers have priority. We enjoyed the tide coming in and out and played a game with others about guessing what the person was thinking about (rock, place, flora, animal, etc) with a couple hints provided. If you have to be left waiting, this is not a bad place as the scenery is pretty fabulous. Last year we watched some goats up on the side of the hill. The boat dropped off the other passengers and came to get those of us left at the beach and we filled the boat up again. They never leave anybody behind. Another boat would be coming on the schedule. We did see two law enforcement folks come up and get out and then they were back in their boat not too far from us so I'm not sure what that was about.
We all said our farewells as Bill was headed to Gt Falls for his early flight, the others were heading back to the KOA as they were driving and I think heading out the next day while Wendy and I headed to Kalispell. I had heard the others discussing eating at Serrano's in E Glacier but because of the delay in getting on the second boat, they apparently changed their mind.
Serrano's first sitting fills quickly if you aren't in line. We went to get fuel just down the street and thot what the heck, let's go see what the fuss is all about; even though we get our good fill of Mexican food in Arizona. We got the last table so we had to wait awhile before we got our food. The chips and salsa were great. Across the way was a family with an older fella that was a retired Red Jammer driver. Our food did turn out to be pretty good. Wendy's burro was gigantic.
Sue, the glacierchatter we had met on the Highline and in the room next to us at the Chalet, happened to be eating there as well and came over to say hello. We would run into them again across the street at the Glacier Park Trading store as I had to get some huckleberry ice cream. You should have seen the berries in that ice cream, oh my! We walked around the store even though we had been in there a little over a week ago. It's a great shop and the Two Medicine Grill is right next door. Alas it was time to head for Kalispell so back we went but not before stopping at Apgar to return our bear spray. On our way back out to the highway we got to see a nice little buck.
The next morning we were up at 4:15 AM or so as I had to catch a 6AM flight. Wendy was now in full-blown cold mode and she had a week to go as she was participating in the Bob Marshall Wilderness work vacation which involves lots of sawyering; a newly acquired skill. Sadly my flights were just not providing much in the way of photo ops so I was able to get a much needed nap.
[ youtube video ] from Two Medicine to and on the North Shore Trail (additional bear cub pics are in this video
[ youtube video ] North Shore Trail to Twin Falls
[ youtube video ] Twin Falls to Upper Two Medicine Lake
[ youtube video ] Upper Two Medicine Lake to boat dock and boat ride |
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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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Route Editor
Route Scout
. One more stop at the Spiral Spoon where Wendy purchased a handcrafted wooden spoon... this store was full of them in all sizes and shapes and kinds of wood.
. We spent a bit of time trying to get good pics of the moose; had to do some serious zooming. We would see others with their fancier cameras trying to get that ideal moose photo.
