Why Two Medicine?

You've probably been wondering why the park I've been staying in is called Two Medicine.  Its because there were Two Medicine Lodges run by the Blackfoot Indians on the river there.  Many of the plants they use for healing were found in the area.  (…and thanks Mandy for prompting me!)

I got up this morning and look who was on my running shoes!

He moves fast, hope you can see him.

Earlier in the morning, I admired the light on the mountains again.  I like the curve of this one…

We had a brief shower yesterday afternoon.  The light was incredible for that too!  Here was the storm arriving:

Here's my tent as seen through the windshield of Mac...

I went to the Ranger's talk at 8 pm last night.  He was talking about mountain goats, and said he was bringing one in for us to ask questions and hear about his life…

Then he handed this volunteer a little radio and she pushed the button, and it started to play "strip tease" music, and he did a strip tease down to his goat costume.  It was pretty funny!  I learned a lot about mountain goats!  Pretty tough creatures.

When I took Theo up for his dip, we saw this - I guess someone had lost their tractor!

Then T got his moment of Zen...

I got my "studio" set up outside the tent.  It works well, can just throw the paints and stuff in the tent for the night.  Got going on a painting here.  I really like how it started out:

Had nice movement and good texture, but didn't feel "done" enough.  So I worked on it some more and wasn't as happy with it…

Kept plugging away and finally have a good start… Now tomorrow I want to add some of the morning light to it…

I think I figured out one of the reasons I like this part of Glacier better than the other side.  On the west side there is a long scenic drive, and many of the campers were there for that.  This campground on the east side is the jumping off point for some of the most scenic trails, so most of the campers are hikers.  I've meant some interesting folks.  Some day I will come back and hike the trails… Hopefully I can get back before the glaciers are gone.   Glacier National Park was once home to 150 glaciers and now only 25 remain.  If current climate change continues they will be gone in 15 years.