Still trying to avoid the crowded parts of the park, we decided to drive over to the southeastern portion of the park at Two Medicine Lake. The weather sounded familiar, 20% chance of rain, but we hoped it would hold off today. Leslie drove us to the Two Medicine Parking lot. It was almost full when we got there about 11am. We had just missed the 11am excursion boat to the end of the lake and the next one was not until 1pm. So we decided to hike the shoreline trail. We started off on the south shore portion of the loop trail. The weather was sunny, but a little windy and cool. So we had our coats on at first until we worked up a sweat. We took the side trail to Astor Falls, a pretty little multi-tiered waterfall, before continuing up the south shore trail. We were about 2/3rdof the way up the south shore of Two Medicine Lake when we began to hear thunder. But we were in the trees and could not see where it was coming from. When we finally came to a meadow, we could see black boiling clouds coming over the ridge in front of us and down into the canyon where Twin Falls was located, our destination. Two other couples were standing there looking at the clouds when there was a loud rumble of thunder. We all decided at the same time that we best beat a retreat. As we quick stepped back toward the trailhead we started getting pelted by sleet and big drops of rain. So we quickly pulled on our coats and hurried on down the trail. Then it turned to frozen rain and began to cover the ground. After about 15 minutes it let up and the sun came out. By that time we were most of the way back to the trailhead, cold and wet from the waist down. But the sun warmed us up and clouds disappeared over another ridge and it was turning back into a beautiful day. We stopped and discussed maybe turning back to continue our hike, but that would have been an extra 2 miles to the 8 mile hike. So we continued back toward the trailhead but decided to take the side trail to Paradise Point. When we got to the point, which juts out into Two Medicine Lake, the wind almost knocked us off our feet, and looking up the lake we could see a new batch of severe thunderstorms boiling over the ridge dropping hail like a vengeance. That was the final straw, we booked for the trailhead and managed to get there before the worst of the weather hit us. We have decided that 20% chance of rain in Montana really means 100% chance of rain!
We stopped on the drive back at the Glacier Park Lodge. Built in 1915 by the Northern Pacific Railroad, the lodge features vertical wooden columns three stories high made from 800 year old redwood trees imported from the Pacific Northwest. The lodge is just gorgeous! So of coarse we had to stop in the lounge for an early dinner and a couple of drinks to help warm us up!
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| Bever Pond |
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| Astor Falls |
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| Glacier Park Lodge (Check out the solid wood columns) |
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Two Medicine Lake from Paradise Point
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