the mosquitoes are coming

After a week of sunshine and heat, we thought it was safe to plan a backpack trip into the Beartooths.  But of course, the weekend rolled around and the rain rolled in.  Because it rains every time we camp...

We met friends in Mammoth and headed towards Cooke City.  The skies continued to darken the further east we drove.  We killed some time in Cooke, and when the sun cleared (a wee bit) we decided to give it a try.

We hiked in from a trail about 3 miles east of Cooke. Our original destination was Fox Lake, but we decided, based on the weather, to do a shorter trip, and headed to Rock Island Lake instead.  That's the beauty of the Beartooths--there's a lake at every turn. 

The trail starts over the Clark's Fork River:

We reached Kersey Lake and the skies got a little darker.

And the climb got a little steeper.

And then the sun came out again.

And then we reached our destination, Rock Island Lake.

We set up home for the night just off the east side of the lake.

And then the boys took to the lake to fish,

while we got barked at by an angry pika who didn't appreciate us invading her space and her rocks.  

 

And then it rained. And rained. And rained. From around 8 a.m. until 8 a.m.  It rained.

Along with the rain? Come in closer, do you hear that? That buzzing? Because there were a million mosquitoes.  As we laid in our tent, we watched them converge between the rain tarp and the netting.  We swatted them away while we cooked, and sprayed on layer after layer of bug spray.  But I digress...

Finally, after 12+ hours of rain,  the sun broke through the clouds and we were finally able to get up and make breakfast.  We dried out our gear, and quickly hiked out to the car. The best thing about hikes in the Cooke City area is that they end with this:

Rain, or shine.

slough creek evening hike

Last night, after work, we loaded up the car with water and fly rods, picked up friends, and hit the trail at Slough Creek.  It's been two years since I've hiked Slough; the last time Sarah and I hiked it we were surprised by a very large black bear that was munching grass 5 foot off the trail.

This past week it's been hot, well, hot for here.  No humidity, but 90 degrees in an alpine desert is still hot. Luckily last night a breeze kicked in as we set off on a 2 mile hike to the first meadow, where the boys fished and we took in the evening.

 

 

Slough Creek patrol cabins.

On the way back to the car we were looking at the wildflowers along the trail when we suddenly spotted two faces--one big, one small--peering at us in the tall grass.  We quickly backed up and detoured around them.

Luckily they were more interested in their evening feeding and took their time making their way to a ridge line.  The cub (one of this year's cubs) enjoyed running after mom and posing on rocks for us.

tetons escape

Over Labor Day, we left Yellowstone and headed south to the Tetons. We snagged a campsite at Signal Mountain,


and then headed to the Leigh Lake TH.


While Steve fished String Lake,


I cooled my feet in the clear water.


We woke up early the next morning and watched the sun rise over the mountains at Owbow Bend.


After a big breakfast, we headed to the Lupine Meadows trail head. Near the TH was a cow moose, not impressed by the noisy sandhill cranes nearby interrupting her breakfast.


There were more cars at TH parking lot than I've ever seen before starting hike. We started the climb up to Amphitheater and Surprise, two lakes, to quote Steve, "without fish."



The trail gains 3,000 feet in elevation over 4 miles, and we had great views of the valley below us as we climbed. There was a lot of haze and smoke hanging over the valley due to a fire burning nearby.


As we wound our way up the trail we discovered that we weren't alone--a black bear decided to jump on the trail in front of us, going on its way for several minutes before finally deciding to cede the trail to us and head off into the trees.


We finally made it to the first lake,



and, if possible, the second lake was even more beautiful.



Though as Steve pointed out again, neither lake had any fish in them.

Coming down, the heat of the day burned the smoke and haze off, and we had clear views of the lakes below.


10.5 miles later we were back at the car, headed home.

cache creek

After I had to cancel on a planned four-day backpack in the Bechler, Steve and I decided to get on out a quick overnight. We hit the trail Saturday night, headed out 4 miles to the first site on the Lamar River Trail.

The sky looked a little ominous, so we walked fast.


Almost there.


Cache Creek, our home for the night.


Steve got our food hung up on up on the bear pole,


and was able to get in a little bit of fishing before nightfall.

The next morning, Steve woke up early and hit the creek. I slept in and then enjoyed coffee in our "kitchen" area, complete with antlers.


We bushwhacked up Cache Creek a mile and Steve got serious about fishing.


Jackpot--a 20-inch cutthroat.


I found a rock and hung out with a book while he fished.


As we headed back to our campsite to pack up, we found a bison on the trail. A very large, cranky bison. We scrambled across the creek and walked in the water until it was safe to cross back over and continue on our way.


All packed up, and headed home.

the rivers are fishable (finally!)