We camped in a park just south of Laurel, MT. The highway (212 and 310) that passed nearby was surprisingly busy with traffic all night and morning. We were all so tired we had slept through most of it.I made sure I shaved and washed my hair in the morning -- even if I had to use the sink to wash my hair. This would be our last hot water for a few days. Supposedly the park had showers, but who knew where?
I had pitched my tent under a tree's canopy, so in the morning my tent didn't have much dew on it. What little there was quickly dried in the morning sun. My plastic ground cloth was another matter as that took forever to dry. The grass was green so that meant it was watered. The ground cloth did its job in preventing the ground moisture from reaching the tent floor.
Photo 1: see from the grass matted down where I had placed my tent?
Photo 2: my breakfast table
Darrel wasn't sure what the trail head was like so he and Susan Raye decided to pack their backpacks now rather than wait until we reached the trail head. Me... I waited until we were at the trail head as my gear and food were all over my car's trunk and interior and it would be a hassle to pack my backpack then try to fit it back into my car for the drive to the trail head.
I went to start my car. Would it start? Was the battery charged from the 445 mile drive? Click, click, click. Nope.
Rather than jump start my car with her car Susan Raye preferred to push start it and Darrel agreed. Susan probably didn't weigh much more than 100 lbs so I wanted her to drive and pop the clutch while Darrel and I pushed. She did not want to do so and opted to push. Okay...
It didn't take much pushing and my car started right up. Rather than drive to Billings to buy a new battery and use up precious time, I elected to drive to the trail head. If I needed a jump start again Darrel and Susan Raye were there to help (push).
At Red Lodge, Montana we stopped at the ranger station to get information about the trail and area. I left my car running. An older gentleman manned the station and he was somewhat helpful, though he had to consult a book for information about the trail. We learned this was a popular trail.
Ten miles south of Red Lodge is the turn off to the trail. It is called the Lake Fork Trail. I think it is called that as there are a number of lakes along this trail, and some lakes are in side valleys. The stream the trail followed much of the way is either called Lake Creek or Rock Creek. I am not sure which is correct.The lakes are:
- Broadwater
- Lost
- Black Canyon
- Keyser Brown
- First Rock
- Second Rock
- Sky Pilot
- September Morn
I turned my car off. I tried to start it again. Click, click, click. Yup. I will need that push when I leave. I'll worry about that after the backpack trip is over.
Even though I had yet to pack my backpack, it didn't take long and I was ready about the time Darrel was ready to go.
Several groups of people on horseback came through the parking lot and left on the trail while we were getting ready. I think it was around noon before we started on the trail. So much for an early start. Still, that didn't matter as our goal was to camp only about six miles in. The trail, according to the book, was 11 miles to the pass. The sign at the trail head said 10 miles. Umm... having hiked the trail I'd like to think the book is correct. 
This is the Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness area and there are no established or maintained campsites. One could camp anywhere as long as the campsite was 100 ft from the stream and 200 ft from a lake.The last time Susan Raye was here she had camped near the one bridge that crossed the stream, approximately 6 miles in.
Under a blue sky, with a pleasant warm temperature and no wind, we began our hike. The trail was in good condition, without rocks or tree roots the first few miles. One just had to watch for the horse manure.
Photo 1: Darrel and Susan Raye
Photo 2: me. The orange bag contained my Thermarest sleeping pad. The green bag at the bottom was my tent. The bulge at the top of my pack is my sleeping bag. In my pack were extra clothes, sandals, jacket, food, and miscellaneous stuff.
We met a father and young son on their way out carrying backpacks and fishing poles. He said the previous night was chilly and estimated the overnight low was 35 degrees. The elevation here is high. The trail starts out near 7000 ft and Sundance Pass is over 10,000 ft. Darrel's topo map was in meters. Being from Rochester where the elevation is barely 1000 ft, he initially thought his map was in feet as the elevations listed were 2500 and 2750, etc. Me, being from Montana, knew different. The elevation was not 2750 feet.
Along the way we saw guys fishing in the stream. There were a mix of hikers on the trail, though mainly of the day hiking variety. Several couples did backpack out. The other overnighters were on horseback - taking the easier way to travel with their gear. Dogs were allowed on the trail and I saw a handful of young women day hiking with their dogs.
One woman, who had parked next to my car, then left while I was still packing my backpack, had hiked all the way to September Morn Lake with her dog, and was on her way back out when I saw her again. She had to take her ipod earphones out to talk with me. I don't get why people must have music when hiking in nature's solitude. Wouldn't the quiet and nature sounds be the reason to do the hike?
There were lots of photo opportunities along the stream. Plenty of water rushed down and there were rapids and falls every so often. Darrel and I took plenty of photos.
Early on during the hike Susan Raye asked me to talk softer as she was trying to meditate while walking. I hadn't seen Darrel in a few years, and he also was a good friend of Denise who had passed away August 10, so we had plenty to talk about. I know from experience that always talking softly is not natural for me and I forget to talk softer when I get caught up in a subject. So I suggested Susan Raye hike ahead of us a short distance to not be near my voice.
Susan Raye insisted that talking softly is easy to do, and talked softly to me to prove her point. I told her I would try but it would be better if she walked ahead of us as she walked faster anyway. (Darrel wasn't used to the elevation here and he hadn't been hiking recently, so his pace was slower than hers.) Susan insisted I could talk softly if I just tried. "It's easy!"
I again strongly recommended that if my voice bothered her she should walk ahead of us a short distance as I knew in the long run I would again unconsciously talk louder. If she would just walk ahead this would save hard feelings over the long run. She gave up and hiked off up the trail.
Man, the past few weeks I just can't win with women. Somehow I can't help but annoy them.
When we caught up to Susan Raye at Broadwater Lake she apologized and said that hiking ahead of us was the right thing as she was the one who had the 'problem'. She said that not only was my voice strong, something about my voice and way of speaking was captivating and she ended up concentrating on what I was saying even though much of what I was saying at that point was only interesting to Darrel and I. Odd, I usually put women to sleep when I get talking.
Does this look like a lake to you? It is suppose to be Broadwater Lake.
After our break at Broadwater Lake, Darrel and Susan left before I did. When I began to leave I noticed a forest service employee down by part of the lake. We chatted a bit. Chad was his name. He patrols the trail checking to make sure no campfires are set where they are prohibited; that people are not camping too close to the lake and creek; and various other duties, i.e. trail repair and maintenance.
Chad looked to be in his mid 20s. He had a backpack and gear as he spends the night camping along on the trail. There is more trail than what a person can patrol in one day.
I had been eating two apples and before tossing the cores away I asked Chad if he minded. I told him I would toss the cores well off the trail.
"Actually because this is a wilderness area and one is not suppose to leave no trace. One is suppose to pack it out."
"What?! The apples are biodegradable."
He sympathized and said he understood. I threw the apple cores well off the trail. I ain't packing out apple cores. That's ridiculous.
At the side trail to Lost Lake I spotted Darrel's backpack leaning against a tree. I also left my pack and headed up the trail. The trail was less than a half mile, but it was a little bit of a climb up to the lake. I met Darrel leaving the lake as I arrived. Susan wasn't here. I walked around the area a bit and looked the lake over. The lake is long and the other side is against a steep mountain side. A campsite was set up and several horses were tethered nearby. No sign of the owners.
Photo 1: Lost lake
Photo 2: mountains on other side of Lost Lake. I like the look of where it appeared the part of the mountain crumbled and became a scree pile.
I hiked back down the trail and caught up with Darrel before he left with his pack. It was a short distance before we reached the bridge and found Susan waiting.Ranger Chad had told me that Keyser Brown Lake was a good area to camp and I wanted to do that. We had plenty of daylight left so Darrel and Susan Raye agreed with me.
Chad had caught up with us as Darrel, Susan Raye and I talked, and I ended up talking some more with him. I told Chad about my car's battery problem. He told me about driving his van where it's reverse gear didn't work. He claimed to have driven the van 60,000 miles without having reverse work. He said he had to get creative when parking. He said one gets creative when one doesn't have money.
Before I finished talking with Chad, Susan Raye reappeared and said she and Darrel decided to camp a few hundred yards up the trail. They were setting up their tent when I arrived. I was disappointed in this site as I wanted to go the extra mile to Keyser Brown Lake, but I was out voted. They were tired and this spot was good and supposedly had a bed of pine needles to lay on. I didn't see much in the way of soft pine needles but I reluctantly I found a spot to pitch my tent and set it up.
While this area doesn't have much in the way of bears - especially when compared to Glacier Park - bears were known to occasionally be spotted. Therefore we had to stow our food up in a tree at least 10 feet off the ground. This was a challenge as the trees were close together and therefore thin with little in the way of good side branches to support much weight or be far enough from the tree trunk. You see, not only bears want your food, so do squirrels.I found a tree nearby with a good side branch. And I was able to climb the tree so I didn't have to spend time and effort tossing the rope up and over the branch. I didn't bother separating my food from my pack, I hoisted my entire pack up off the ground. I took the chance a squirrel wouldn't jump onto my pack and eat a hole to the food.
Darrel found a tree between our tents, which were not very close together. He put his food in a bag and hoisted it up. Later after supper Susan Raye had stuff she wanted to put in a tree. She had no rope nor had spent any time selecting a tree. She added her stuff to Darrel's bag and they hoisted it up the tree.
Crack!
The branch broke and everything fell to the ground. In the dim light they had to find another branch. It was too dark to see well so they found a branch where they could hoist their bags five or so feet off the ground. Not high enough but they had no other options. The downside was that this location was nearer my tent than theirs, so if a bear decided to play "pinata" with their bags I would definitely know.
After setting up our tents, and before supper, we all decided to hike to Keyser Brown Lake as this lake was on a side trail off the main trail to Sundance Pass. Before we reached the side trail, the main trail began its steady climb to Sundance Pass and Darrel was worn out. He turned back to our camp shortly before the side trail appeared. Susan Raye was ahead and was waiting when I reached the side trail. We continued on to Keyser Brown Lake.
At the lake I met two men who were camping at the long oval meadow at the NE side of the lake. They had come up on horseback and their horses were grazing near their camp site. They had ridden up to Sundance Pass earlier that day. When I arrived at the meadow they came down from their tents to meet me. They were friendly enough and when I told them my car battery woes they had a number of suggestions. They decided from my description that the starter was ok, it was either my terminal posts had some corrosion else the battery needed to be replaced with a new one.
By the time we finished chatting the sun had set and dusk was gathering. Susan Raye never showed up as she had gone to another part of the lake before returning to our camp. I also headed back. There was something about those two cowboys at the lake... Brokeback Mountain came to mind. Hmmm.... the Wyoming border wasn't that far off. Guess our camping spot was a better choice than camping at Keyser Brown Lake.
Darrel and Susan Raye cooked supper on Darrel's stove. I didn't feel like cooking anything so I made several peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, ate them and some other food.
At dark Susan Raye and Darrel retired to Darrel's tent. What was it? Only 9 pm? Early! While our tents were in trees just off the trail, to our south we had an open marshy meadow. I stood there and watched the stars appear one by one in the darkening sky. To the west were a line of mountains, and Sundance Pass. The sky went from light blue over the pass to black to the east. In addition to watching the stars come out I watched the ridge line of mountains fade into a silhouette.
It was well after dark when I found my tent and crawled into my sleeping bag. An eventful, but fun, day. Tomorrow... Sundance Pass.
Views from the campsite:
Photo 1: blue sky and pines above our campsite
Photo 2: Black Canyon
Photo 3: Thunder Mountain is on the left. Sundance Pass is on the very right side at the far ridge of mountains.
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