Two Medicine
Like Jenny Lake in the Grand Tetons, Glacier NP has the “Shave off 2 hours each way by buying a $40 roundtrip boatride to a Trailhead” to which you could walk. Twin Falls Trail and then up to Upper Two Medicine Lake, shaving off the entire Middle Two Medicine Lake Trek. The boat was historic and really did much better in the wind than the one at the bouncy ride in Jenny Lake.
Unfortunately, the British Columbia fires are blowing smoke to Glacier. There is really no smokey smell, but those fires affect the visibility of the far away and towering peaks. It seemed like the lodgepole and other trees filtered out the smoke from the ground level, and hiking was not made difficult.
The Twin Falls were delightful, and the farmers had not turned one Fall off for irrigation like they had in Twin Falls, Idaho.
The wobbly one person hanging bridge was quite fun to cross.
On our way to the Upper Medicine Lake, we searched and searched on the smaller, Pray Lake to see a moose since our boat captain had told us that moose and baby were seen frequenting the area, but I guess we need more praying – no such moose.
We had gotten the 1:15 boat which some people got on as walk-ups. The dealio is that they give you get return trip pass for 3:15 pm or 5:15 pm. The line starts forming early and even though we were there 30 minutes early, we did not make the 5:15pm shuttle because it was full. We had to wait about 40 minutes for the return boat to take all the rest of us. Others were waiting in line too and he kept budding the line.
This is the first two lay-downs for John on this hike – it was beautiful and shady on this hot afternoon.
Two Medicine is the less traveled side of Glacier and the town has many closed down restaurants, but under the bridge is a perfect food truck area where we had one of the best jalapeno peperoni with hot honey drizzle wood fired pizzas. Such a yummy crispy crust and the honey drizzle was a perfect zip.
The best part about Casey’s RV Campground was the sweet dog hung with us.
It’s a small park in good order, but lots of train traffic even late night and early morning. We had seen the Amtrak station directly across from the nearby Lodge. Train was how visitors were brought to the park and rail travel still exists today. We had eaten at ate at the Great Northern Restaurant in this Lodge and it was nothing special as far as food, but was right up there with those big dining areas of National Park Lodges and lovely lobbies where we listened to a guitarist for a bit.
Saint Mary East Glacier
Heading north to Saint Mary, at the T-intersection before you turn left is a Qyiyo Bakery and Mercantile. That is not to be missed. So many yummy options and fresh bread too! Huckleberry Claws and Huckelberry Butterhorns and Huckleberry hot sauce was on our list. The 45 minute ride was quite scenic although the road was rough and slow in some places. Saint Mary had all the services and a cute little expensive grocery – most important is we got some super tape for the frig door shelf that keeps popping off – not good when full of milk or creamer cartoons – luckily we caught it all before crashing to the floor. Found the perfect fix it tape for the job!
Red Bus Tour – East Side
This Iconic Glacier Tour that starts from either side of the Park goes just past Logan Pass. Julia, our tour guide, has so much great information, from glaciers, Red Bus Facts and general Glacier Park History. The smoky haze really did a number on the far off peaks, but Wild Goose island could still be seen.
She surmised that there are probably no glaciers left in the park because back in the day a glacier was define by having 25 square acres of area and ice 100 feet thick. There some 150 glaciers near the turn of the century. The last glacier census was done in 2015 and it was estimated that only 25 would be around in 2030, but no glacier census has been completed so this figure is unknown. Evidently all stages of glaciers are evident in Glacier NP and that’s how it was formed, so it won’t lose its name just yet. The Glacier Life Cycle starts out as V shape of a cut through the rock, later turns U as the mighty mass of ice and rocks make their way cutting peaks and valleys as it goes, finally become silty like, and many times emptying into a lake. Today I learned my birthplace, Long Island was made from the ??? Glacier , now that’s something I didn’t know.
The White Motor company built the first multi-passenger buses in 1913. In 1949 in front of Logan Pass one lost its transmission and all tourist excursions were halted. The Ford Motor Company refurbished the buses and donated them back to the National Park Service and they government vehicles now.
Saint Mary Lake, East Glacier
The Canadian fires are coloring the glacial mountains in haze. Luckily the air particularly on the hike are not too affected and we rarely smell smoke. So hiking we will go! With the long days, John late sleeping and the less crowds we usually don’t start a hike until 2 or 3 pm when parking is much easier.
Saint Mary and Virginia Falls Hike
The Saint Mary Falls is less than a mile and the crowds thin out a bit to Virginia Falls which is about another 1.5 miles.
Saint Mary Falls had people dropping off bridges or jumping off a rock ledge into the water. This area of the park had a wildfire and what’s left of the big trees are strewn on the banks of the St Mary Lake. But there is much new growth of Christmas trees (I won’t say the kind) and so many flowers and other shrubs that have taken over the once burned out ground. So it’s a bit sad looking, but such is the life cycle of the forest that carries on.
Virginia Falls was particularly beautiful and the early evening lighting.
Better yet you could get up close and the mist of the falls would provide coolness.
Parking is always a problem in these smaller areas. This year there is no shuttle that stop along the Going to the Sun Road – even though they are marked as such.
The Sun Point Parking Area really is the place to park for Baring Falls and even these St Mary and Virginia Falls. We just got lucky to find a parking spot in one of these 10 car pullout lots, but the unofficial trail up to Vinny was quite steep.
Baring Falls
We did Baring Falls via the Piegan Pass Trail with cool breezes the hike was right along Lake Mary and the sun was starting to hide behind the mountains. This trail is accessible at the Sun Point Parking area and at the 7:30 pm there was less than a dozen cars with tons of parking. We had gotten seriously delayed because we were grizzly watching, so squeezing in this short hike was perfect. And we even saw this Ptarmigan wandering on our trail.
Sunpoint and Sun Rift Gorge
This short 2 mile evening hike was a nice little jaunt especially up to the Gorge.
Although after Flume Gorge in New Hampshire, the Sun Rift was not spectacular. Sun Point had some beautiful views and had a really varied cool collection of driftwood on its cliffs.
The Sun trying to shine through the smoky haze made fore eerily interesting photos. We are still hoping for less wind and clearer skies to venture up the Logan Pass and do some of the longer hikes.
Wildlife St Mary
Grizzlies frequent a field both mountain and lake side near Saint Mary before getting to the Rising Sun Area. We have seen them twice in this area that has divider cones and there usually is a Bear Jam in the area because people are always looking.
A momma and her two cubs foraged along the Lake. It looks like they were the same ones we had seen two nights prior although it is difficult to see the cubs then.
At one point Park Rangers came to give citations for people who didn’t have all wheels off the road. When he would get on the loud speaker the momma bear would instinctively look up, but then back to her business. This happened a few times.
Camping in Saint Mary Area
The cancellation policy fo the KOA cabin that I booked a long time ago was 14 days otherwise no refund for the four days that I had booked. I was a bit cranky about this because I had gotten reservations at the St. Mary Campground in the Park after all so we were doubled booked. We decided to go with the cabin – it had a bathroom and shower and a toaster – oh boy. The breeze blows through and nights cool off – and bonus we even reached Vinny to charge up our battery which will be a plus because our next 2 weeks have no electricity. The line getting into the park so far have been less than 10 minutes even at the busy 11 am time. Our cabin is quite secluded for a KOA and our strategy in the future may be to get an RV reservation, but if such a cabin is available so we would upgrade. St Mary KOA has gotten a bad rap for hospitality, even charging $5 to receive a package. I think the manager is cranky because the employees seem pretty nice. Kayaks are for rent right on the property which borders Lower Saint Mary Lake and there is a nice Nature Trail down to the lake. Laundry room has lots of units ! There is hand scooped ice cream at the campstore and one of the only places to fill up on propane.
The Saint Mary Campground does not have much shade on most campsites although our site did have huckleberries ! We decided to cancel the site and are enjoying the KOA for now.
Heart of Gold Campground – gets the gold star for Saint Mary. We stayed there one night wanting to get fully charged for St Mary Campground, and found them to be particularly friendly. So much so that John had a package delivered there even a day after we left. Then we decided to ask if we could park our bikes for the month and lock them to a tree or something – Oh No, No, they said you can put them in a shed, the maintenance guy, John came over to unlock and was so friendly. So we tipped office $50 and said we would return after Canada.
Saint Mary Area Restaurants
Two Sister’s about 5 miles out but so worth was excellent, but had a 20 minute wait which was so worth it. I had a perfectly grill bison tenderloin steak and John had one of his all time comfort foods, Chicken Pot Pie. I got the huckleberry pie to-go.
Two Dog Flats restaurant at the Rising Sun Lodge also was delightful my beef brisket was super tender and John’s flat iron steak with his mashed potato comfort food was just what we need on our way back from the 5 mile hike to St Mary / Virginia Falls. Campground seemed a bit less exposed than Saint Mary, but 6 months out they were not taking reservations. But this is a very convenient place to camp.
Travels with Vinny VanGo 