Brad and Ward at the Island Lake trailhead
Island Lake
First good look at Lonesome Mountain
small tarn
Still a bit of snow left at lower elevations. We'd find more the next day
Looking for a first night's camp site at Becker Lake
Becker lake inlet stream
A view from our first nights camp at Becker Lake
A look at our camp at Becker Lake
Odd clouds or the Santa Fe going up in smoke? Either way, the Stella's were probably safe
Morning at Becker Lake
Lonesome Mountain in the morning
Approaching Albino Lake
A beautiful morning at Albino Lake
Albino Lake
Ward and his well-travelled hiking staff at Albino Lake
The next of many passes to cross during the trip
Jasper Lake
Golden Lake
Golden Lake and a chilling stream crossing in our future
Ward making the crossing
Dorf relaxing
crossing a small snow field
A look-back at Jasper Lake
Heading up
Looking back at Jasper Lake and Lonesome Mountain
Another look at Jasper
Dorf
This might be the last known squeeze tube of Skippy peanut butter in existence. Sadly, it is now but a distant memory
More snow and an unnamed lake en route to Two Bits Lake
Ward and Brad, a.k.a "Canadian Dude"
Two Bits Lake
More rugged country
Triskele Lake. We'd carve out a camp for our second night here
Not the most comfortable of camps, but at least we were somewhat protected from the strong winds
After dinner we attempted to find high Pass Lake but were halted by snow. We found this alpine gem instead
Checking out the majestic beauty of the Beartooths
Ward doing breakfast
Morning reflections in Triskele lake
Ward and his daily coffee
Myself, wondering why I don't drink coffee
Easy hiking on the snow
Brad and I taking photos of each other
A partially frozen Donelson Lake
Lots of snow up there for the first week of August
Brad and Ward navigating the old fashioned way
Ward and Dorf send a message to fallen hiker, Reed, who couldn't make the trip due to a foot injury
Maryott Lake
Tarns just west of Maryott Lake
Maryott Outlet. We'd climb the knob to the right and be rewarded with some stellar views
Brad and Ward checking out the Crystal Lake basin
Crystal and Pleiades Lakes
Ward making the big descent
Another view of the basin
Crystal Lake
We scrambled down this chute heading toward Flat Rock Lake
Brad and Dorf above Flat Rock Lake
Flat Rock Lake
The first wildlife of the trip
Flat Rock's outlet stream was dotted with pretty falls like these
Easy hiking---not the norm, but welcomed
More falls
Brad making his way up to Flat Rock Lake
Higher up Sierra Creek, below Flat Rock Lake
We'd have to cross over to get to our camp
Ward and Dorf making the crossing. We duct taped our Crocs and flip flops to keep them from floating away
Laundry day for Brad
Another message for Reed
Looking toward the head of Flat Rock Lake
Brad pondering dinner
Dorfs (in)famous stuffing, cheddar and Spam surprise. Kids, don't try this at home (Yuck)
Wild flowers were blooming
After dinner Ward and I decided to hike to the head of the lake. Follow the stream up and you could reach Varve Lake, Navajo Tarn and Castle Rock Glacier.
A shot from our food hang halfway across the lake
Evening at Flat Rock Lake
Another evening shot taken from our camp
Good morning! Let's climb that and see where it takes us! (Hint: Copepod Lake)
Brad successfully navigates the swollen stream
Dorf makes his way across. To watch Ward's crossing, go here: http://www.dorfworld.net/backcountry/backpack_2008/movies/stream_crossing.mov
A look down and back to Flat Rock Lake
Copepod Lake and a lot of snow
Brad and Dorf at Copepod Lake
Still some ice on Copepod Lake.
We decided to take a break here before pushing upward toward Cladocera Lake
Taking a break
Looking back toward Copepod and Flat Rock Lakes while heading up to Cladocera Lake
A partially frozen Cladocera Lake
A look back at Cladocera
Our favorite activity: boulder hopping above Cladocera Lake
A look at Cladocera and Copepod Lakes
We were attempting to get up to Lake 10832 but ran into a wall of snow in front of us...
...and another to our left (south), which looked infinitely more doable
Hermit lake: our alternative destination
A frigid looking Hermit Lake
Lunch time at Hermit Lake
Hiking on more snow and boulders, descending to Till Lake
More fun in the Beartooths!
Descending to Till and Robbie Lakes
A look at Big Butte Lake from above.
Old man Ward taking a siesta above Big Butte Lake
Big Butte Lake. We tried to find a suitable campsite here but were thwarted by snow and wetness.
We hiked a while longer and found a questionable site at Anchor lake
Anchor Lake camp
Anchor Lake
Brad getting ready for dinner at Anchor Lake
Another bear hang
Anchor Lake in the morning
Ah, Dorf's breakfast
We decided to follow the outlet stream down to Widow and Jorden Lakes
Jorden Lake
Falls on the north end of Jorden Lake
Trail? Yup. We spent a couple of hours back on the trail getting over to Lake Elaine
We took lunch at Lake Elaine
Brad blazing a trail to Sierra Creek
Found it. Sierra Creek might have been the most beautiful stream we encountered the entire trip
Sierra creek just below Summerville Lake. I dubbed this place "heaven"
Falls draining Summerville Lake
Brad getting a closer look
I would have been happy to set up camp right here if it wasn't so early in the day
We would follow Sierra Creek up to Alp Lake. i think this is the best photo I took on the entire trip. This was a stunning area of the Beartooths.
Castle Lake
Dorf's Contrail at Alp Lake
One more
A look at Sierra Creek behind our camp
If we'd have hiked up the drainage we could have camped at Flat Rock Lake again
Ward setting up his camp
After dinner I hiked across the lake and began hiking up the falls
The falls
The next morning we followed the stream up to Crystal Lake
After some more bushwhacking, we arrived above Martin Lake
We decided to follow the inlet stream up to Rachel Lake
Ward doing his thing between Martin and Rachel Lakes.
Rachel Lake---one of the prettiest we'd encounter
Rachel Lake
We'd follow the stream up to the Cloverleaf Lakes
Between Rachel and the Cloverleafs
One of the Cloverleafs
Another Cloverleaf
One of the Cloverleafs and what we suspect was High Pass---the one we couldn't get to a few days earlier
more hiking on snow
After a short while we arrived above Golden Lake
Camp at Golden Lake beneath our old friend Lonesome Mountain
We were anticipating some weather coming in
It did rain a bit and produced a beautiful rainbow
Dorfs bacon-cheddar tuna melt. Yum
Ward surveying his domain
Ward and his most excellent cooking rock
Morning at Golden Lake
We decided to follow the stream down from the high country
Descending toward Hidden Lake
Beautiful meadow
More wildflowers
If I can ever get my wife to the Beartooths, we're camping here
A look back
Though we were leaving the high country, we didn't leave the scenery behind
A look to the west at Pilot Peak
Hidden Lake
Our old friend Lonesome Mountain
T lake
Dorf cooling off
An obscured view of Beartooth Butte
A view from my tent at our last camp near an unnamed tarn
Our final bear hang
Three hikers ready for the numerous mosquitoes
Ward is ready to get out
Brad anticipating breakfast in Cooke City
A look back to where we spent the last week
approaching the trailhead and the end of a great hike.
Trip video clips
