Mileage 2.5 Elev. + / - 760 / 0 Fatigue Camp Rating BIF* MEALS   Breakfast n/a Lunch Tuna wraps Dinner Salmon chowder * Bug Irritation Factor

For the second morning in a row we woke up to the sound of raindrops pelting the tent. After looking out the window it didn’t look like it was going to stick around, but you never can tell. We lounged about the tent for a while and by 0800 the rain had stopped, pretty much dictating we’d have to take the 1030 boat ride to the end of Two Med Lake.
 
For this trip we decided to park at the trailhead and hike over to the boat dock instead of the other way around. We quickly took down the tent, ate breakfast and by 0945 were parked at the trailhead. The hike to the Sinopah through the campground was uneventful
 
The 20 minute boat ride, captained by a young lady named Dabney, was fairly informative. We were happy to know that the boat had never sunk in all the years of operation. If we had to do it again I’d probably forget the boat and walk the 2 miles or whatever it was to the boat dock on the opposite end of the lake.
 

Craig standing in front of the campsite next to his stream. This was the closest we came to having indoor plumbing of all the time we spent in Glacier.

By 1100 we were on the trail headed for Noname Lake. Since we had only about 4 miles to go, we decided that we’d make a side trip to Twin Falls which added a little less than a mile to our mileage. This was worth it as it set us back just long enough to meet the infamous “Glacier Gang” coming down from Upper Two Medicine Lake. At first I didn’t know who the big group was but it sort of hit me for some reason that this was them. We chatted about our time on the trail, took some pictures and promised to communicate on the backpacker.com message boards about our respective trips.
 
The trail began to climb the 800 or so feet it would take to get to Noname. We caught up to a group of Japanese tourists who were quite surprised when Yumi started speaking Japanese to them. This wasn't the first time she'd surprised Japanese tourists in the park. They eventually followed us up to the lake and had lunch there. The only difficult part of the hike was that mother nature couldn’t decide what she wanted to do with the weather. I lost count on how many times we donned rain gear and took it off. Trying to come up with the best layering combination was difficult as well.
 
By 1415 we had made it up to the lake and once again , as we were the first ones there, had our choice of campsites. This one wasn’t a hard choice: we picked the one with a small stream running 15’ from our tent. This would be the closest we would get to having running water on the entire trip. The sites themselves were kind of far from the lake, but the scenery more than made up for that little inconvenience. We ate some GORP and tuna tortillas for lunch then went to the beach to relax.
 
After a short time a family we rode on the boat with from North Carolina came over to the beach and ate their lunch. They were up at the lake for a day hike and wanted to get some fishing in. We spent close to 2.5 hours chatting with them while watching father and one son catch a single small brook trout between them. They were very nice and it was great to see a family enjoying the beauty of the park together like they were.
 
Later a Chris and Justine came into camp. They were a little younger than we were and essentially were outdoor education teachers near Los Angeles. What a great job that must be. Chris looked like a hiker and had in fact hiked the John Muir trail at least once in his life. They would save us later that night when our stove would peter out due to a clogged jet.
 
There was also a group of 4 guys who said they were almost three when one of their party almost got blown off the mountain near Dawson Pass.  Yumi didn’t need to hear that little factoid.

While everyone else was setting up camp, Yumi and I had retired to the tent for our customary afternoon nap. What was once a cool, dank day had become a little warmer with the emergence of the sun. Now it was very comfortable napping weather. When I woke up I decided to follow my creek upstream to see where it went. After about a quarter mile I decided I'd better head back lest I worry Yumi by my absence.
 
By 1800 we were ready for dinner---Yumi’s Isle Royale Salmon. We were about done with the cooking when the stove inexplicably quit. This is not good, but not a disaster. This had happened when Todd and I went up to Newport earlier in the summer and I was able to get it going again. I figured I’d let it cool off and start it up again.
 
It didn’t work. Luckily Chris and Justine came to the rescue and let us use their stove for a few minutes to finish the Salmon. When we were done eating I tried to take the stove apart to clean the jet but couldn’t get it unscrewed. Not the greatest way to start out a trip, but we would survive. Chris said they had plenty of fuel and that we could use their stove in the morning if I couldn’t get ours going again. Hell, I had plenty of fuel too, and would have even more if the damn stove didn’t get fixed.
 
Again, we were in bed early due to the bugs. This time at 2115. At least it was warm enough that we could sleep without the rain fly again.