National Parks Road Trip 12: Two Medecine

On B's birthday, we were out before sunrise again, driving across the train tracks to Two Medecine Grill for a diner breakfast. We'd read that the pancakes were good, which was true, but the reviews failed to mention that they were also enormous. L ordered three of them. B got eggs and hashbrowns with toast (her favourite), but managed to help L by eating most of a pancake too.

The drive to the nearest entrance to the park was quick but dramatic, with dark clouds hanging over the mountains and bright light illuminating the peaks from the east as the sun came up over the plains. We parked near the South Shore Trailhead and walked around Two Medecine Lake, keeping an eye out for the rumoured moose and following its tracks in the occasional mud. Eventually we heard it crashing around in the trees somewhere to our right, but we never spotted it.

The day had started off chilly, with gusts coming off the lake, but we took off some layers when the sun came out as we started climbing through a meadow up towards No Name Lake (hereby christened B's Birthday Lake - please update your maps and trail guides). The short but tough climb was worth it: the lake was a gorgeous spot for a snack break, with big steep cliffs looming overhead.

We passed through a campground on the way back to the parking lot, where we got to see a ranger get out of her truck to shoo away a bighorn sheep, waving a reflector vest in its general direction. (The sheep seemed mostly unfazed but eventually sauntered away.)

Back home, L celebrated B's birthday by getting himself a huckleberry ice cream cone from the store across the street. It was our biggest hiking day yet, so we stretched our feet out in front of some bad reality tv and rested up for our last big day.

L shouted "birthday!" to get her to turn around for this photo