Woke up with the sun and looked up. Saw breaks in the clouds so stuffed my sleeping bag away and headed for the Scenic Point trailhead in the Two Medicine Valley. I could see a storm coming from the northwest but wanted to see where the day would go. As I started hiking from the trailhead my truck was the only vehicle in the lot. Quite a change from yesterday afternoon when I couldn't find a place to park anywhere.
Somewhere near the 2 mile mark this skeleton of a tree guards the trail. Besides just looking kinda cool, I remember this same dead tree from 20 years ago. It sure takes a long time for things to disappear in this alpine zone. The wind was blowing steady and with some force so I never got warm on my way up this ridge. In fact right after I took this photo I put on another layer to help me stay warm.
Nearing the ridge that would take me to Scenic Point I passed this unnamed high point. The sun was breaking out so it made a wonderful picture. On my way back down to the trailhead and my truck at the end of the day I passed it again and had to climb it. I think it wanted to be climbed.
Eventually the top of Scenic Point came and with it great views of the Two Medicine Valley. Didn't stay long before I headed down to start my loop of summits. The clouds, wind and rain played with me all day. No lightning so it was safe being above the tree line. I could see heavy rain over one valley where the fire is. Good place for the rain to be.
The next summit was Medicine. After a mile long climbing traverse it was straight up for a 1,000 foot climb through the remains of a long gone glacier. Really windy (a theme for the day) but the rain showers changes to blue sky with a few fast moving clouds.
On the way up I passed by 2 young Bighorn sheep feeding and hanging out on the mountain. Not skittish at all, rather they just wanted to know what I was up to.
Made the summit cairn and with two peaks down decided not to follow this ridge to Mount Henry and Appistoki, wet rock and strong winds did not make it seem safe. So off along the other ridge towards Buffalo Mountain and then on to the Head. The rain caught up with me on the route to Buffalo so the camera got put away.
Heading back to the trail down the rain had stopped there was a horse at 7,500 feet. It let me get right up to it. Something big had scared it to get it up here by itself, and it was favoring one of it's back legs. Spoke to a ranger about it and was told the owner had been contacted and was coming soon to get it. Hope it makes it.
One other common sight along the ridges today was lots of the rippled red rock. I was told by a geologist once that these are old sea marks from a long bygone era that have been pushed back to the surface. Pretty cool to look at anyhow. Does that mean I was mountain climbing at the beach?
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