Glacier - Two Medicine Rockwell Falls

We leave tomorrow so today is our last day for a hike.  We have yet to go see the Two Medicine section of Glacier so off we go!

We make a pit stop at the Goat Lick.  No  trains crossing the trestle today.

But there are a couple of Mountain Goats - see the two white spots?

That's what zoom lenses are made for!

 We make to to Two Medicine

 

 

 Looks like it may be a nice day!

On our way we go by Running Eagle Falls so we stop to check it out

A little history on the Falls.  

Running Eagle Falls, named to honor the memory of a woman warrior of the Pikuni Blackfeet.  Running Eagle, is a man’s name, and it is highly unusual for a woman to be allowed to use it.  She was born Weasel Woman and was taught to hunt Buffalo as a child by her warrior father.  While on one hunt her father  was killed. She retrieved her father’s body and the fresh buffalo meat and returned to her village.  Shortly thereafter her mother died leaving her to care for her brothers and sisters.   She became the head of her father's lodge.   She was a beautiful woman and courted by many young warriors but she was not interested and eventually became a warrior herself and was awarded the new name Running Eagle after a successful encounter with the Flathead tribe.

She was the only woman in the tribe to go on a vision quest and slept under the falls.   She was a courageous woman but also kind, thoughtful and generous.  At the age of 30, she was killed in a raid by the Flathead Indians while in their Territory.    The warriors brought her body back to Upper Two Medicine Lake and buried her in a tree in the mountains overlooking the Falls.  She is held in very high esteem by the Blackfoot Tribe.

It is also known as Trick Falls.   In the Spring the rush of water completely hides the lower falls.   The lower falls come out of a cave below the upper falls.

We pull into the lot for the trail-head to Rockwell Falls.  Looks like the general store is closed for the season

The Lake is a bit choppy as the wind is really blowing and it's chilly out.

Hopefully the trees will buffer the wind a bit.

Looks like our hike is going to be around 7 miles round trip

We were told there was a chance they have removed the footbridge for the season - let's see . . .

Yeah!   It's still there.

Almost there!

Ta Da!

What a beautiful place.  You can't tell in the picture but there are two more Falls above this one.

Relaxed and had lunch and then time to go back

Back to the swing bridge

Oh look!  One of my famous "but Hon it's only another tenth of mile"

Of course we went 1/2 mile before we realized we missed the turnoff for the bottom of the Falls

Here's the view from half way up

We make it back to the bottom of the Falls

Over the bridge

and back to the beginning