August 8: Rainbow Lakes to Beartooth Lake

One of the many Rainbow Lakes.

As I woke up at 6:00 I immediately began to ponder what I'd do today. Something easy off trail, hike to and camp at Horseshoe Lake or even hike out and maybe dayhike tomorrow? Whatever, I'd figure it out later after I sipped my pants legs on as it was very cold this morning. This was the first time in almost three weeks in the mountains this summer that I had to zip them on.

Another breakfast of oatmeal warmed me up somewhat as did the discovery of a nice steamy pile of bear scat near my tent. That my visitor didn't detect my Ursack and food laid upon a rock very near was testament to double and triple bagging. Yumi doesn't know about this and it's doubtful she'll even read about it here, but don't tell her anyway.

As I left my camp just after 8:00 AM, I decided to play the day by ear. If I had to stop at Lake Kathleen or at the footbridge I'd stayed at my first night, so be it. If I had enough energy to make it out, I'd do that. I did know that I'd be hiking almost exclusively downhill as I'd be going out on the same trail I'd hiked in on.

The drive back to Big Timber was just as beautiful as the wilderness backcountry.

After going a few days without talking to another hiker, I certainly made up for it today. I met a group of 5 guys, one of whom was from Wisconsin, after about an hour. We talked for a while and went our seperate ways. A few minutes later met a nice couple from Boston who were on their first-ever backpacking trip after attending a friends wedding in Livingston, MT. After they moved on I figured I'd sit down and grab a snack,

I was making very good time and figured I'd be looking for a NFS campsite somewhere off the Beartooth Highway tonight when I stopped at Lake Kathleen for lunch a couple of hours later just before noon. I enjoyed watching a pair of ducks diving under the water looking for their own lunch for a while then moved on to tackle the final 5 miles back to the trail head.

I covered the last 5 miles in near record time, arriving at my truck at 2 PM. No flies this time, but there was a horde of college aged girls camped near by. I downed a diet Coke, ate an apple and cleaned out the back of my truck and was on the road shortly after 2:30. Like the trip in, the drive out was most enjoyable, though a bit saddening.

It took a while before I got back to Big Timber, arriving at 4:15, and I wondered if I'd be able to find a site at one of the campgrounds or if I'd have to find a turnout on the highway and do a very short one-nighter up on the plateau somewhere. Another quick stop at "The Fort" for juice and a bag of chips and I was off for Red Lodge via Columbus and Absarokee.

The drive to Columbus went quickly and I found myself craving a Quarter Pounder with cheese while filling my gas tank across from a McD's. My craving sated, I pushed on to Red Lodge on highway 78 passing a few small towns, many ranches and an occasional auto. I arrived at Red Lodge and noted how much the outskirts of town had been built up in only three years since I was there last.

Beartooth Butte over Beartooth Lake.

Now on the Beartooth highway I began to ponder my options for the night. I flew past a few campgrounds in favor of finding something a little higher up. This proved to be a mistake as I later found myself running out of light and options. With about a half hour of light left I decided to take a jeep road to see what I could find. Not much, I'm afraid, though I was lucky to get back to the highway with my truck intact. A drive through the Island Lake CG didn't find me a place to sleep so I drove a few more miles to Beartooth Lake and found one of the last sites available there.

I quickly pitched my tent and threw on my fleece. It was almsot dark by the time I was set up so I retired to the truck to look over my guidebook for a good dayhike.

By 10:00 PM I was nestled in my sleeping bag checking the day's hiking mileage and concluded I did about 13 miles. I then took another look at my maps and guidebook for something to do tomorrow. Finally, I gave it up and thought I'd just drive home over a couple of days while taking in whatever I could along the way and went to sleep. It was a long day but a lot of fun, too.