Spanish Lake

August 17, 2017

Yeti and I left early to do our Spanish Peaks loop backpack. Our first stop was the Coffee Pot for breakfast. They have delicious and filling breakfast sandwiches, made fresh. Just about 12 miles further to the turn off into Ted Turner’s land. One lone bison was eating grass by the roadside. There were several horse campers at the trail head. The horses were grazing peacefully as we set off. For about the first 4 miles, the trail is fairly level with just small rolling ups and downs. It follows the South Fork of Spanish Creek to a junction. You can either take the Mirror Lake fork or the path to Spanish Lakes, which is what we did. At the junction, we bumped into Mike, a guy who was out with his son and the son’s friends. They had gotten separated as they hiked in the evening before: Mike camped at Mirror Lake and we surmised that the guys were camped just ahead over the creek crossing. Then we noticed a note made with sticks “Mike” pointing the way over…. They were indeed at the camp. We chatted a bit with them and headed off – uphill and steep-ish! We took it slowly and stopped for lunch at trailside. Soon, the kids came gamboling up followed shortly by Mike, who stopped to get a load off and chatted with us for a bit. They were heading to Spanish Lakes also to fish. Got to the lake about 3pm and found quite a few people. One group had a really nice site that was the nearest to the lake and they’d staked out the lake front there too. They didn’t seem too friendly and we didn’t want to horn in on their privacy. We searched around a bit – by the stream there was another set camp with two tents. We crossed the stream and almost immediately found a potential site. Yeti and I went looking a bit further on and we came upon some mules and a camp in the woods. We decided to just camp at the site by the stream. After setting up camp, I went to take pictures of the lake, which is surrounded by high jagged peaks. A bit like Cirque of the Towers in that respect. We had not explored to find the other two lakes, one of which we think is higher up and the other behind a rock “hill” as you first approach the lake. I think the guys we met earlier went to the higher lake, because we did not see them. I sat by the water for a bit, then went back to camp. We cooked pretty early and soon headed off to our tents. Both of us read our e-books until we nodded off. Quiet night.

Melanie at Jerome Rocks Lake

August 18, 2017

Unlike our thru-hikes we got up later at 6:45am and actually made coffee before setting out by 7:30am. I took some early morning pictures of the lake as we left. The junction which goes up to Jerome Rock Lakes is only about a tenth or two of a mile back the way we came in. The trail goes downhill a bit passing small meadows filled with wildflowers and a small pond. Then, it goes up steeply. We gain about 1,000 feet to 9500ft at the pass. It is a spectacular climb. With meadows, views of all the peaks around – quite craggy. Though a tough climb for Yeti, we make it up for a well-deserved break at the pass. Here we have 360 degree views – too bad it’s hazy with smoke, though not as bad as previously. There is a breeze and it is getting rid of some of the smoke. We can see Lake Solitude on the other side of the pass, where we will be coming to on the way to Jerome Rock Lakes. The way down is via a contour of the hill to a ridge with a trail junction sign. We follow the Lake Solitude Trail, which is steep down at first before it moderates going very close to the lake. This is probably where you should come for solitude – no people in evidence. The trail goes sharply left (look for the cairn) and continues for a bit at a moderate grade. This trail is spectacular – well worth the climbing. At the next junction, we fork left to get to the lake. There is an established spot (probably not legal for camping though there is evidence that people camp there) and we stop for a long break for lunch. Just opposite is a bigger site, where it’s okay to camp. You must be 200 feet from the lake. After our meal, I explore along the lake front and did find another site, probably too close to the water but clearly used. No one here, so again, maybe the better option to Spanish Lakes which is more accessible especially to horse packers. This lake is also surrounded by rocky, craggy mountains and seems more remote. It’s a quiet, relaxing break. Yeti and I discussed our plan and decided to continue on down the Pioneer Falls trail to find a camp. We’d have a short way out. Yeti said he thought we had 11 miles from Jerome Rock Lake, more than I had thought. Now, we were going downhill so the going was pretty easy. Mostly, it wound through some forest, meadows, more forest. We’d been going almost two hours and started to look for sites – I had not seen anything suitable yet. After a wide open part of trail, grassy and with Aspen trees, we started down through some woods and found a camp right next to the stream and by the trail. We decided this was it, as we’d not seen anything else. We set up here. One young woman passed with just a fanny pack as we prepared our meal. Later, three folks on horseback and two hikers came up and tied the horses up just near us. They went down the trail a bit for water and when they returned we struck up a conversation. Some lived in Bozeman, the others were visiting from the east coast, including a woman who lived in New York. They headed back and we got ready to pack it in for the night. More reading – I wanted to charge my phone around 9pm and realized I’d forgotten to bring the cord. I had the charger but no way to connect it – I’d simply forgotten that piece! Oh well, we would be out before the phone died.

Pioneer Falls

August 19, 2017

We got up at about 6:35am and made coffee. By 7:30, we started down and very soon came to the falls. Not too much later, we were at the junction with the main trail that we’d started on. It was only a bit over 2 miles back to the car, so Yeti had miscalculated the miles. It had not been 11 miles yesterday, but more like 7. We met quite a few people coming in, some day hikers others clearly backpacking, including two young guys with monster packs. They had an inflatable boat in the packs – we could see the oars sticking out! Better them than me. Soon, we were back to the car by 9am. We decided to head home for showers and to the Spotted Horse for breakfast! And, that’s what we did. Yum. Great trip. Next on the agenda will be a loop to Summit Lakes.