lamar to pelican

And...we're back. The past month has been a blur. August and September are always the busiest months around here. They are the two months that we actually have summer, and as such, we cram as much into them as we can. We were in Alaska, Chicago, and also made two trips into Yellowstone's backcountry. We'll start there...

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Last month, we hit the trail and completed a backpacking trip that's been on my list for a long time: Lamar to Pelican.  The trail starts at the Lamar River Trailhead, in the Northeast corner of the park, and ends 34+ miles later in the Southeast corner of the park, in Pelican Valley. And oh yeah, Pelican Valley has the highest concentration of grizzly bears in the park, so going in a group is recommended.

Five us took off on a Friday morning and hit the trail.  The trail follows the Lamar River, and part of the group peeled off to fish their way to our first campsite.

After 7.9 miles, we reached the Calfee Creek Patrol Cabin.

Sunny skies, beautiful river views. 

We finally reached Miller Creek, which was a nice destination to reach for us mentally, as it (finally!) signaled that we were making some progress.  We rested our feet and filled up our water bottles here. 

After 10.5 miles, we reached our first campsite, backcountry site 3L7. It started to rain when we reached the campsite, so we quickly set up our tents and waited it out.  When the rain subsided to a drizzle, we were able to start a fire and make dinner. 

After dinner, we noticed movement in the meadow across from our campsite, and spotted a cow moose feeding in the tall grass. We watched her for about 30 minutes before she ran off into the trees.

Mileage for day 1: 10.5

Day 2 dawned clear and bright, and we continued to follow the river, while the boys broke off again and fished their way along the trail. 

The views were spectacular and we stopped often for photos.

I got excited whenever we stumbled across signs, as it seemed like we're getting somewhere.  At this divide, we were only 6 miles from the park boundary and had come 16.7 miles since we started. 

Wolf tracks going one way, grizzly tracks headed the other.

Because of the concentration of grizzlies, the only camping in the area is over Mist Creek Pass. There's no camping in Pelican Valley itself, so you really need to get one of the two campsites just over the pass or you're looking at a really long day.

Backcountry campsite 3T3, our home for night 2. Steve and Angie reached the site first, and spotted a grizzly meandering in the area. Luckily, he went on his way and didn't return.

After two days of heavy mileage, it was time to adjust the blisters.

Day 2: 12.9 miles

The whole gang at the campsite on day 3, getting ready to make the final push out to the trailhead.

We left the campsite, and began the climb up Mist Creek Past.

Group photo, minus camera-shy Steve, at the Mist Creek Pass sign.

And then it was time for the final descent. Angie makes it look easy.

Pelican Valley patrol cabin, which means we're getting closer...

The last trail sign we'll see before we reach the car.

Pelican Valley, the final miles.

Pelican Valley is beautiful. But by nature of being a valley, it is wide open and it was hot. HOT. After walking for what seemed like hours, we finally heard traffic and new we were close.

Day 3 miles: 10.8

Grand total for the trip: 34.2 miles

daisy pass to wolverine pass

Though Yellowstone is our backyard, it's not the only wilderness we have here.  The beauty of living where we live is that, in addition to the park, we are also surrounded by national forest land.  My goal this summer was to explore the Beartooths more, and so far we've made it out there twice already this summer.

We drove up above Cooke City and started the hike at Daisy Pass.  

There was still a fair bit of snow on the pass, and on the trail.

The hike begins with a steep downhill as you drop into the bowl,

and start hiking along the base of the mountains.

There were a ton of wildflowers along the trail.

 

  

 

And the scenery was pretty hard to beat.

And then, as it often does around here in the afternoon, a storm blew in. Suddenly there were dark clouds rolling in over the mountains.

And that nice drop into the bowl, to start the hike?  It seemed even steeper climbing out in the rain!

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.