Another shot at the mountains because the weather was forecast to be nice again. Kind of starting to run out of some of the places to go that are close to the house. But this place in particular had been on the list for quite awhile. Its an interesting hike, because you start out and lose 400ft elevation right away! We had secured our cross-country permit easily, and headed up to the trailhead/parking area.
Getting ready to head out.
It was only going to be around 5 miles into where we thought we wanted to camp out at. We had our eye on a small lake/tarn, but werent sure if it was going to have water in it or not as its so late in the season and its been so dry all summer long. Off on the trail we went.
We made our way about 3 miles down the trail, to Hidden Lake. We had about 600 foot elevation to gain now- up the headwall in the end of the valley.
Almost to the top, it was a steep mother, but I went slow and we eventually topped out.
We got the to the top, the top of the headwall is the treeline you can make out in the upper left of this photo. This is the tarn we were looking for water. There was plenty thankfully. The next morning hiking out we found ice...not like overnight frost type ice, but we think there is a partially submerged glacier in the upper right portion of the photo. Sean headed up higher to scout for a camp site, while Bill and I treated some water. You can just make us out along the lower left shoreline.
We had SEA MONKEYs...dont know what the hell they were, some sort of alpine shrimp or something LOL. The Miox killed them, but who knows what they were, going to ask around if people know what they may be. Its all protein right???
Here's camp! HMF!!!!!! I love this hat. <cough> maybe Santa can send me another one <cough>
Theres a reason I like hiking with these guys. They are ex-Army special ops type guys and the Army brainwashed them years ago about carrying weight! Beer does taste better in the alpine!!!!
Sean got up early and took some pix of the sunrise on the mountain...It was cold- around 30-35 degrees!!!
Weather forecast is shaping up for next week- I might go and sneak ONE more overnight trip in this year. I have had alot of fun on all my trips this year and look forward to next year. Sean is back in Yellowstone now as they have some work for him, but Bill is a new partner with some promise to head out with. Ive figured out alot of new gear this year and look forward to getting it all dialed in for next year and seeing how light I can go. A new pack may be in order for next year, but I want to see how much I get out before committing to buying one.
