Road trip, day five: Two Medicine.

The next morning I was sleepy and grumpy but I made my way to Two Medicine about ten miles up the road.

Two Medicine, countless reflections

My first stop was Running Eagle Falls (also known as Trick Falls). Part of the falls runs underground and comes out through a cavern, and when the water is high the falls run over the top of the cavern too.

low water season lets you see the trick

Next up was Rockwell Falls. Bear bell ringing, I headed into the woods and through pretty little bear-free meadows, and happened upon a sign pointing to Aster Falls a mile or so off the main trail. Being a sucker for a waterfall, I turned left, hiked to the falls and continued to the lookout above.

Aster Falls

life at Aster Lookout

death at Aster Lookout

On the way down I ran into a nice Midwestern family who I would see again at Rockwell Falls and a few days later, at Virginia Falls. Big park, small world.

The path to Rockwell Falls goes through high meadows of flowers and dead/living trees. The trails were somewhat overgrown, which surprised me given the foot traffic and imminence of bear season, but still no sightings.

not a bear

Along the way I'd been promised (via Moon) a footbridge reminiscent of Indiana Jones, and they were right.

you can't do this to me! I'm an American!

The falls were pretty, and I sat with the Midwestern family and ate lunch while we all admired the view and I remembered how spoiled I was, having access to this type of thing whenever I want in the Columbia River Gorge.

it's no Wahkeena, but it'll do

They turned back and I headed onward to Cobalt Lake. It was here that I really felt like I was in Rocky Mountain country. The air had that unmistakable Rocky Mountain scent, the streams were clear as glass, and the mountains were gorgeous.

The lake was also gorgeous. Yeah, I have access to waterfalls galore, but I have to go high up and far away to see lakes like these.

hello, new tripod!

cobalt: a cool, slightly desaturated blue

The flies were not so gorgeous, so after a quick photo stop I headed down Two Medicine Pass Trail toward Twin Falls. The hike took longer than I expected and I'd already hiked more than I thought I would. I was mildly worried about my Achilles tendons (which still haven't recovered from the Bend 12-hour sand hike and subsequent 20 miles over the next few days last May) and was taking it slow, but I knew that the boat back to the parking lot area left at 3:20 and 5:20... it was almost 3pm so I regretfully skipped Twin Falls and went to the boat queue instead.

A hundred other people apparently had the same idea and the boat only held about 50 people, so when I heard they were sending another boat in about 45 minutes I walked the quick 2 miles out to Twin Falls.

pretty, but not worth lingering too long and missing the boat

"About 45 minutes" turned out to be 30 minutes. As I got back to the dock the (packed) boat was leaving, which would've meant another hour-plus wait at the fly-riddled dock or more wandering on my achy feet. But the driver had forgotten his backpack and noticed me when he slowed the takeoff and jumped back onto the dock to retrieve it. "Need a ride?" he asked with a smile. "You're my hero!" I shouted, and boarded.

One of the women at the front of the boat commented on how lucky I was. Standing in the open air at the front of the boat, looking out on the lake, I thought about my adventures this year, the ease in which I found a place to live and a job when I returned, and my friends and family who supported me through the whole endeavor... and I thought to myself, "lady, you have NO idea."

After dinner and huckleberry ice cream in town...

when in Rome, after all

... I was resting my Achilles in the hostel lounge when a guest came in and said, "I don't know if you're interested, but there's an amazing lightning storm outside." I followed him to the porch and watched one of the most amazing storms I've ever seen, which was accompanied by a guy playing acoustic guitar in time with the bolts.

I love Montana.