East Glacier to Two Medicine: a Fall favorite

Twisted mudstone was strewn beneath the Head Mountain

A waterfall coming off remnants of a permanent snow field

The Two Medicine valley below us

We're always captivated by the dead trees on this hike

What's left of color on the east side of Glacier

The high valley separating the Bison Head Henry ridge from Scenic Point

 The hike from East Glacier Park to Two Medicine Lake on the Continental Divide Trail has become a Fall favorite.

This 10.5 miles hike, that includes the walk up Scenic Point Mountain (7,522 feet) and more than 3,000 feet in elevation gain, offers the hiker views of many Glacier Park ecological zones.  You'll need to have a car on the other end of the hike.

To begin from the bottom, drive west down First Avenue in East Glacier to a gate, which is easy to get around,  and about a third of a mile the small Glacier Park trail sign presents itself.

The trail goes through three miles of the Blackfeet Indian Reservation, so a $20 conservation license is required, and we're told enforcement is rigorous.

It follows Midvale Creek along a horse trail on the Reservation.

At the park boundary it narrows to a footpath and climbs steadily beneath the (Bison) Head Mountain through fields of twisted mudstone and limestone before ascending the ridge that leads to Scenic Point Mountain.  Look for the waterfall spilling off the north side of Head.

It is 6.5 miles from East Glacier to the top of Scenic Point and another 4 miles down to Two Med Lake.

Most folks hike to Scenic Point from Two Med, a much shorter, but steeper approach along limestone switchbacks.  It can be crowded

Few people, except the CDTers, take our walk to Scenic Point.  No one did it that way Monday.

No matter which way you go, the views from Scenic Point are remarkable ---- Rising Wolf, Sinopah, Mount Henry, the Bison are breathtaking

Fall winds had already blown the aspens bare, but there was no snow on Rising Wolf, the biggest mountain in the Two Med Valley.  Some snow speckled the north face of Mount Henry.

Rising Wolf's red peak shown beautifully with the Fall angle of the sun.

We met one young woman, who joined us at the top, and two late day hikers had just gotten started from Two Med. I don't expect they got too far.

It was refreshing to be in Glacier after all the tourists were gone.

There wasn't another car in the Two Med parking lot. 

Quite a contrast from a week earlier on Firebrand where we saw 30, mostly Flathead hikers.