Day 40: East Glacier and Glacier National Park, MT

It was another rainy day on the East side of Glacier National Park. It was about 8 degrees and very, very rainy. Today we took a tour boat across Two Medicine Lake. We got off on the far side of the lake and hiked up to Twin Falls. The falls almost had three streams instead of two because of all the rain we’ve had over the last few days.

Next, after several stream crossings and climbing over multiple downed trees we made it to Upper Two Medicine Lake. The lake was thawed and the mountain views, though cloud covered, were lovely. We looked out for mountain goats and big horned sheep but didn’t see any. 

Stream crossing!

Long wait for the boat back. Brrrr.

While the hike was definitely rainy, we agreed that it wasn’t miserable because it wasn’t windy. Our hiking boots even kept the water out until about 2/3 of the way back but then we all had wet feet.  The waiting for the boat for the return trip was another story, however. We arrived back at the boat dock at 11:50am and had to wait for over an hour and a half for the boat to arrive - scheduled for a 1:15pm pick up but it didn’t arrive until 1:30pm. By the time we boarded the boat, we were freezing. Sweaty, rain and stream soaked and completely freezing. Brrr.

Mmmmmm!

Upon return to the dock we feasted on $2.75 grilled cheese sandwiches from the Two Medicine General Store before braving the 1.5 hour drive back to our campsite. Hot showers were in order immediately to thaw everyone out, followed by cups of hot chocolate. Dinner is going to be comfort food - mac and cheese - while we stay warm and comfy in our trailer until the rain stops, hopefully sooner rather than later. We’re rained out.

Day 39: West Glacier and Glacier National Park, MT

Today we perfected the pivot. We had planned a bike trip on the famous Going to the Sun Road but this got pushed to Tuesday because of the rain. It rained like the bejeezus today. Instead, we fast forwarded Liam’s birthday celebration and headed out to celebrate at the breakfast buffet at the very fancy Lake MacDonald Lodge. The eggs, bacon, French toast and fresh fruits were enjoyed by all and Liam happily rang in lucky number thirteen.

We checked out the special multicoloured rocks that Lake MacDonald is famous for before heading back to the campground with plans to do laundry. Sadly, the laundry facilities were closed from 11am-2pm so we pivoted once more, heading into nearby Columbia Falls to a laundromat. We met the nicest dog there and enjoyed giving her lots of petting while we waited for the washing to finish.

We puttered around town killing time during the dry cycle, checking out the weirdest thrift store which was, no joke, selling half used bottles of toiletries, rusty garden clippers, and blue suede shoes.

It is still raining so we had tacos in the camper for supper followed by discount birthday cake. Unfortunately, it is predicted to rain even more tomorrow than today. Sigh. You can control almost everything except the weather.