Rockwell Falls

There are three ways to enter Glacier Nation Park on the east side - Going-to-the-Sun Road, which bisects the park and is the only road through the Park, and, on the east side it exits at St. Mary where we are staying; eight miles north of St. Mary is the 12-mile road that leads to the Many Glaciers trailheads; and, twenty miles south of St. Mary is a 7-mile road that ends at Two Medicine Lake where there are several trailheads. Two Medicine is where we went today, the first time either of us have been to the area.

Normally a hike, such as today's, that spends most of its time in the trees and meadows would not be our choice since we only got occasional views of the surrounding peaks. However, today we welcomed the shelter the trees provided from the punishing wind that continues to sustain at 30 -40 mph, with gusts to 65 mph. Fortunately, the forecast is for the strong winds to continue through the evening but then begin to decrease after midnight. The High Wind Warning ends at 4 am, Monday.

The trailhead at Two Medicine Lake. The wind was blowing so strongly across the lake that it was whipping water into an extended spray that got me wet as I took pictures.

Mount Sinopah from a meadow early along the trail. It was very difficult to cross this meadow because of the wind which literally blew us off the trail.

Deep in the woods we came to a suspension bridge that crosses Paradise Creek - Load Limit- One Hiker at a Time.

The base of Rockwell Falls. This is the final 20-foot cascade is a series that extends for almost half a mile up the stream's valley.

We rock-hopped across to the other side where we ate our lunch.

Another view of Mount Sinopah closer to the falls, on our way back.

Hike statistics:

Length - 7 miles

Elevation gain - 300 feet (260 floors on the Fitbit)

Duration - 3 hours, 32 minutes