Day 2 - Monday 7/25/2016 - Hike Two Medicine Lake Area
Woke up at 7:00am and left for Two Medicine by 7:30am. This was too early for us to get breakfast at the Ranch, which was included with our stay. We mentioned this to Aaron, the guy who cooked at / owned / ran Bison Creek Ranch so he made us some great breakfast sandwiches to take with us. We got to Two Medicine by about 8:00 due to some slow drivers on the road over. We got some great sunrise shots over Two Medicine Lake! Magical way to start the day!
We enjoyed our sandwiches and took the 9:00am boat across Two Medicine Lake. We then hiked up to Upper Two Medicine Lake, stopping at Twin Falls along the way. Unfortunately, shadows kept any good photos of Twin Falls. At Upper Two Medicine, we met a couple from the DC / Virginia area. They did the hikes we were planning to do further into our trip but were at the end of their trip unlike us. As we rested at the bank of Upper Two Medicine, a moose trotted around us as he made his way around the lake.
We hiked back to the boat dock and then turned right to head over to Rockwell Falls. That was a tougher hike than we were expecting, up and over the hill to the Rockwell Falls area on a hot, steeper than expected trail that was pretty grown up. However Rockwell Falls was tall and worth it! I took a social trail up Rockwell Falls while Emily rested and the view up the side valley was gorgeous!
We then hiked back toward Two Medicine lake and took the trail on the south bank instead of hiking back over the hill to the boat dock. We figured it was about the same amount of hiking to get to the boat dock or to head back to Two Medicine on foot. On the way, stopped for a break at Aster Falls. There, we met a couple from southwestern Oklahoma. While walking back across the little stream, I slipped and soaked my right shoe in the stream. We waited another 20 minutes in an attempt to dry the shoe and to rest a bit. Luckily I had extra socks in my backpack but the shoe was still pretty wet. We started running low on water by about Rockwell Falls and had a rather dry hike back to Two Medicine which we arrived to at about 4:00pm. We started packing more water after this hike!
We hiked back to the boat dock and then turned right to head over to Rockwell Falls. That was a tougher hike than we were expecting, up and over the hill to the Rockwell Falls area on a hot, steeper than expected trail that was pretty grown up. However Rockwell Falls was tall and worth it! I took a social trail up Rockwell Falls while Emily rested and the view up the side valley was gorgeous!
We then hiked back toward Two Medicine lake and took the trail on the south bank instead of hiking back over the hill to the boat dock. We figured it was about the same amount of hiking to get to the boat dock or to head back to Two Medicine on foot. On the way, stopped for a break at Aster Falls. There, we met a couple from southwestern Oklahoma. While walking back across the little stream, I slipped and soaked my right shoe in the stream. We waited another 20 minutes in an attempt to dry the shoe and to rest a bit. Luckily I had extra socks in my backpack but the shoe was still pretty wet. We started running low on water by about Rockwell Falls and had a rather dry hike back to Two Medicine which we arrived to at about 4:00pm. We started packing more water after this hike!
We hit up the gift shop to replenish our water and then drove back to Bison Creek Ranch where we ate dinner again. Had some great Pork Chops and their soup was more like a stew but still very good! I put my does infront of the fan to dry over night which worked well. We kept hearing trains roll over Marias still but being my luck, I was a bit too tired to chase.
Upper Two Medicine Lake - 4.8 Miles round trip; 350 ft elevation gain
Return to Two Medicine via Rockwell Falls and Aster Falls - 4.8 miles one way; 375 ft elevation gain
Safe Travels,
B&E
Upper Two Medicine Lake - 4.8 Miles round trip; 350 ft elevation gain
Return to Two Medicine via Rockwell Falls and Aster Falls - 4.8 miles one way; 375 ft elevation gain
Safe Travels,
B&E