Perfect day. Really quite perfect. After 2 beers with my friend Brooke at the Bozone taproom last night, I declared I was sleeping in on Saturday. I needed it. I've had such a lack of sleep this summer. I woke up at 10am, and it was glorious. I leisurely packed my things, casually wrote some computer code, listened to car talk, and ate pumpkin pie oatmeal. Seriously, I've been mixing pumpkin pie mix into my oatmeal -- and what a discovery. Regardless, after all that I drove out to the Gallatin Canyon, about 25 minutes out of town (seriously close), but not without a stop at the Dollar Spree. I'm never going there again.
I got an alpine start in the trail (2 pm) and began the trek up the Hellroaring creek trail towards Gallatin Peak. There were about 5 breezy miles initially, through a dense Douglas -fir forest up the creek. I ate wild strawberries, raspberries, and huckleberries until my stomach hurt. I tend to have a rather sensitive stomach.
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| Hellroaring Creek |
We broke through to a thin band of pure lodgepole forest as we climbed up the N. Fork of the creek. The hike got more strenuous, the weather remained great. We climbed up long switchbacks before reaching the base of Gallatin Peak, the tallest in the Spanish Peaks range. I looked down on the trail and spotted a whitebark pine cone. Who needs an altimeter? Just look at the trees! Feeling very close to the alpine, I pocketed the cone and continued on. I feel bad about keeping the cone, maybe I should break it open and plant the seeds? At the same time, however, the cone's purple twinge intrigues me. I guess I'll decide tomorrow.
We finally reached the alpine and walked through meadows filled with wildflowers in the narrow valley between Indian ridge and the peak. We set up camp away from the edge of Thompson Lake. It is a gorgeous spot, actually better than I had hoped for. It's also freezing cold. I am huddled with my head under my sleeping bag and I'm glad the dog is at my feet to keep my toes warm. I was craving wilderness and I definitely got it.
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| Thompson Lake |
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| Campsite |
8/4 Summit Lake
In the middle of the night I woke up and was pleased that despite sleeping under the much needed rain fly, i had remembered to open my tent door and view the stars. In the morning we woke up to howling winds whipping at the side of my tent. I had stayed warm in the night, but the thought of getting out of my sleeping bag before the sun my side of the valley was chilling. I let Izzy out and snoozed another hour. The wind made for a clear, crisp morning without a cloud in the sky. We hiked up to the notch separating the N.Fork basin and upper Spanish creek basin and were surprised with a hanging lake, perched on the edge of the ridge. I dropped my pack to sit and enjoy the view: Blaze peak to the west and Gallatin to the east. I wish I had a week to just explore and connect all the trails out here. I'd happily keep heading towards Spanish creek, but that would be me far from my car.
I feel incredible ease out here. I can't believe this is my casual Sunday morning, sitting at over 10,000 ft between 11,000 ft peaks. I love everything about the wilderness. I want to spent my life in these places; I need to do something that allows me to keep this up.
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| Summit Lake |
Back at home.
Wow, I am incredibly tired. I think I ended up hiking about 12 or so miles at least before getting back to the trailhead, and then another mile back to the car along the highway. It was such a pleasant hike back. I climbed up to Beacon Point, attaining views of Blaze Mountain, Table Mountain, and more peaks I can't even name. We hiked along Indian Ridge for about 5 miles before dropping down into forest. However, the hike remained open and scenic most of the way, and the sections through forest were exciting. There was a huge wind event which took out about 10 hectares of forest across the valley -- unfortunately my camera died so I couldn't capture it. I walked through avalanche debris and a lot of whitebark pine killed by mountain pine beetle, their bark peeling away to reveal thousands upon thousands of galleries. I also saw a lot of whitebark pine cones all over the place, making me regret leaving my intact cone back at camp. The hike undulated down, through open meadows and dense forest, finally back down Indian creek and out to the highway.
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| Whitebark pine killed by mountain pine beetle, a midst avalanche debris looking back from where I came. |
I pleased myself with my ability to just be quiet -- while I listened to music for about an hour, the rest of the day I listened to the landscape, the bugs, the creeks below, the chipmunks Izzy chased endlessly (she got one too. I had to drop a rock on it's head to put it out of it's misery. Left it for the raptors). It's such a different experience having a partner to do everything with as opposed to just going to do things by yourself. I am a very social person -- I love being around people. After nearly 6 months now of being single and on my own, I am glad that I do things by myself and enjoy them thoroughly. It's almost as though having a boyfriend to do everything with is cheating. I accomplished so much more on this hike doing it by myself than doing it with a man. Sometimes I feel very alone; other times I am completely happy by myself. I was very satisfied on my hike, and not lonely at all. I enjoyed my time alone. At time same time, the smell of pine needles baking in the heat on the sand brought back so many memories and with those a sense of loss and loneliness. I am glad that I am the type of girl who can go spend a night in grizzly country by herself, let alone hike 25 miles on a short weekend trip. I wish there was someone else to appreciate that too, I guess.
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