Day 2: A hike around Two Medicine

The second full day we spent at Glacier National Park, we decided to do a hike around Two Medicine Lake, which comes to approximately 8 miles, give or take. It was an absolutely gorgeous, windless day and a lot of other people were out hiking, taking advantage of the warm mountainsides.

The footbridge on the South Shore Trail was awesome! We felt very much like we were channeling Indiana Jones. I'd never been across a bridge like this before, and I understood pretty quickly why they limit crossing to one person at a time. The swinging and natural movement of the bridge after you get about halfway across (physics: something I'm not good at, but can totally appreciate) can be really disorienting.

The South Shore Trail was posted pretty heavily with signs about bears, namely grizzly bears. It was marked as a "bear frequenting area," and although we didn't have any bear spray with us (that's a thing!), we were conscious about making a lot of noise. We actually made a game out of it at one point, to keep us talking and making ourselves known to any potentially frightened/aggressive animals in the forest. My youngest sister Maddy would holler, "hip hip!" and that I would call out an adjective, and Ali would name a food. We were pretty relieved, needless to say, when we finally stepped onto a less grizzly-frequented trail.

We did get a little spooked a couple of times when we ran across some scat in the middle of the trail. None of it was super recent, but it was enough to make us rethink how seriously we needed to take the whole "bear frequenting area" thing.

We hiked along the side of Sinopah Mountain -- it never fails to astound me, the scale of these mountains. From a distance, one knows they're monumental, but getting up the side of one, and even climing up a little bit -- and looking up: that's something else.

Our main destination on the trail was Twin Falls at Upper Two Medicine. There are indeed two beautiful falls, and it was a popular spot for day hikers, so when we got there, some had packed along chairs to sit in and hang out for a while. I, for one, would not be interested in carrying a chair for three miles.

The trail opened up quite a bit as we went around the North Shore trail of Two Medicine Lake. In one spot there was a small group of Inuksuit (which are traditionally made by Inuit people), to mark directions or places of respect. I remember seeing these in various sizes (some huge) in Canada, and it reminded me how close to the border were were in GNP.

The evening ended on a brilliant note, per usual for our trip. We made pudgie pies over the fire (ever had one of those? a camping cuisine must!) and enjoyed a suitably calm evening except for a campsite filled with teenaged boys who didn't know the meaning of "quiet hours." Alas, teenagers. ;) Every night we were treated to the sun setting behind Rising Wolf Mountain (Rising Wolf was the husband of Sinopah, whose name graces the mountain next to it).

Last but not least, the final post will include our drive along the Going-to-the-Sun Road and our long drive back through Yellowstone and South Dakota. Cheers!

Days to Edinburgh move-in: 61

Getting there and setting up camp

The drive from eastern Wisconsin to western Montana is not a short one. We took Highway 2 practically all the way there, driving up through Duluth, MN to catch it out of Wisconsin, and then it was straight on 'til morning. All in all, it took us about 24 hours with stops. We drove through much of western Minnesota and North Dakota overnight, catching a red sunset in the northern Minnesota forests. We passed through a bit of North Dakota oil country (interesting) before crossing into Montana where it was suddenly clean, green, and gorgeous on the plains.

 

We stopped for a very quick last break before getting near the park, in a little wayside in Chester, MT. Across the street was an old diner, the Sugar Shack, which was closed, but looked like it had been in use somewhat recently. We watched the Empire Builder speed by on the railroad, brushed our teeth, had a quick snack, and got back on the road.

And finally, mountains! After stopping in Shelby, MT for groceries (and ice!) to fill the cooler, we were set to go. We wound our way through the Blackfeet Reservation and Browning, the last small city before entering the park. We turned into Highway 89, which would have led us up to St. Mary, but having been super prepared, none of us knew where the best entrance was. So we turned around, got back on Highway 2, and headed down toward East Glacier at the Two Medicine area of Glacier National Park. It turns out that St. Mary is the main eastern entrance to the park, but in the end, it turned out well that we saved that for another day.

 

We drove to the end of the road and found ourselves at Two Medicine Campground, which sits on Two Medicine Lake. There is a large general and camp store there, with boat rentals and scenic tours along the water departing from there, but it was Sunday evening and the crowds were tame. We checked out the souvenirs, got ourselves some firewood, and headed to the campground to set up camp.

The water was clear as glass and cold as ice, so we didn't get to properly swim or anything. But we made the best of it, and often rinsed our hair and went ankle-wading.

Our campsite was set back a bit, bordered on both sides by other sites, one for RVs and one for a tent, which was often not occupied. Behind us the hill swept up, so we were aware of wildlife, but it was also nice and quiet. 

Each night the sun set behind a mountain around 8pm. It stayed light out until well after 10pm every night, and we were so exhausted that not on not one day did we stay awake long enough to see a true night sky. We did peek some stars through the tent window screen one night, though -- the night the wind picked up and a book I had in a tent pocket swung and whapped me in the head. So I woke up and looked at the stars. ;)

Plant life was kind of scrubby. There wasn't a lot of grass and everything was very dry, at least on the east side, where it tends to be windy. 

Evening was gorgeous each and every day. The first night was calm and cool, and we simply took it all in. We planned for a hike the next day, which I'll post about next time.

Days to Edinburgh move-in: 62

I'm back!

What a week! A brilliant, fly-by camping trip to Glacier National Park with my two lovely sisters, and we're finally home. We arrived last night after spending around 33 hours on the road, driving from northwestern Montana back to Wisconsin. We detoured through Yellowstone National Park on the way back!

I'm just starting to go through my photos, and I intend to do a couple, if not a few posts on various aspects of our short, yet full trip. I forgot how much I love camping! And the west! Well, I didn't forget how much I love the west; I just haven't been there in a while!

I'm so excited to share my adventures with you from the past week. Until then... a sneak peek:

 

Yeah, pretty much. A shot of Two Medicine Lake when we first arrived. So much more where that came from!

<3 !

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On the Edinburgh front, things are really starting to come together as I move into Major Serious Preparations Phase. As we speak, important documents for my visa application are en route par avion from the university for my visa application, I've got plenty of information to peruse about joining the Edinburgh College of Art and what the first week will look like before classes start, and I've got an official email account! All these things! I may have just returned from the shortest epic vacation ever, but I've got a pretty epic move coming up, so it's onto the next thing in pretty short order.

Days to Edinburgh move-in: 63