Rock Tree Lake
Rain, sleet and hail...good stuff
That night might have been the best night’s sleep I’d ever had in the back country. Yeah I woke up twice but was able to fall right back to sleep immediately, not waking up for good until 6:00 AM.
There was no breeze to speak of during the night so the inside of my Contrail was very wet due to condensation, as were the other’s shelters. Luckily, Ward and I were set up in a nice clearing which dried us out before we were even finished with breakfast.
Since it was a prototypical beautiful mountain morning, I decided to go with a prototypical breakfast of bacon and eggs. I gave thanks to the inventor of pre-cooked, shelf-stable bacon as the smell of same permeated the air around my stove. This was going to be a great day.
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Brad and I left camp around 8:20. I was in great spirits as we made out way down the trail which by now was starting to provide some great views courtesy of the thinning trees. Small ponds and meadows dotted our route which had thus far been mostly confined to the narrow East Rosebud Creek valley. Now things were starting to open up.
We soon found ourselves making a significant descent to what I thought was East Rosebud Creek but later learned was the stream draining Cairn Lake. Not that it mattered---giving up 150’ sucks no matter the name.
Having only been on the trail for a little more than a half hour I decided to be a lazy dude by rock hopping across the stream, hoping my Gore Tex lining would do its job if I used some slightly submerged rocks. Canadian Dude, as he’d done the year before, just plowed right on through.
Just after we crossed we spied Ward and Tye making their way down the switchbacks across the stream. Neither of them knew how far behind Reed was so Brad and I started up the 150’ of elevation we’d just given back to the mountain gods.
It didn't take Tye and Ward very long to catch up with us as we wheezed our way up the switchbacks. They told us they’d seen Reed behind them and suggested we stop for a short break once we found some level ground.
After an hour on the trail we stopped at another beautiful meadow just below the tree line for a snack and to filter some water. Reed caught up after a few minutes and we were all together once again.
I took a quick look at the map and determined that this was right about where we would have found the trail had we camped the previous night in the cirque behind Dewey Lake. That would have been a great campsite, as would the meadow we were relaxing in now, for that matter.
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After 20 minutes of breakage we lit off again, and in only a few minutes were above the tree line looking at the convoluted Fossil Lake.
Brad and I tried to figure out which of the two drainage's was the one we would need to climb. He was sure it was drainage A, while I was sure in was drainage B. I should have just listened to him from the start as ‘drainage A” was the correct answer. Memo to self: Do not question the navigational skills of Canadians.
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Naturally, we had to give back much of the elevation we’d gained as we began the descent back down to Gallery Lake. The trek down wasn’t the difficult rock hopping we’d been used to last year and the last hour or so. Rather, we were able to skitter down on a little bit of snow and grass, eventually finding a good spot to take a break on what was becoming a warm day.
Once refreshed we needed to figure out which was the best way to get around Gallery Lake. I was lobbying hard for the shortest, more direct route which may have been a little more difficult while the others thought the long way around the north end was best. What a bunch of pansies.
After another 200’ climb we found ourselves looking down on the Lake of the Winds and decided this was the place to stop for some lunch. The clear skies were starting to give way to increasing cloud cover and I began to wonder if we’d get a day without precipitation during the trip.
Traversing some easy terrain south of the Lake we soon found ourselves looking for a good place to set up camp as the clouds were beginning to look rather ominous. The original plan was to camp north of Z Lake but it became apparent that the more logical choice would be to camp south of the lake.
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At 3 PM, clouds still building, we came across a nice spot closer to Rock Tree Lake, surrounded by water on three sides. Most impressive was an unusual looking falls draining Z Lake.
There was plenty of level ground for all of our shelters and we immediately got settled in before tackling some laundry and bathing.
I decided to eat before the storm hit, not knowing how long I’d be cooped up in the tent and not wanting to deal with cooking inside the vestibule or in the dark. Unfortunately, I didn’t make it and had to seek refuge in the tent even before figuring out what to eat
Starting out as a cold, blowing rain things quickly turned more serious when the rain no longer sounded like rain and more like hail---which it was. “Excellent” I thought, “this will make for some good stories and a better video” as I made a few peanut butter and jelly wraps and watched the fun. Hopefully Tye, stuck under his tarp was faring OK.
After 45 minutes of nature’s entertainment the rain and hail stopped and the skies began to clear somewhat. I was again impressed with Henry Shire’s tarptents as my previously untested Contrail held up with nary a problem.
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I was equally impressed by the sheer number of falls that appeared tumbling into Rock Tree Lake. Where there had only been three that I could see before the rains began, there were now at least11. The stream draining Z Lake, an easy rock hop prior to setting up camp, was now something I wouldn’t even think about crossing. Not totally unexpected since we were camped in what was essentially a basin surrounded on 3.5 sides by rock walls.
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Naturally, we all had to take the requisite aftermath photos of our camp and the hail surrounding our shelters. Apparently, none of us had ever been through a hail storm while in the back country though it wasn’t the first time I’d seen hail on this trip.
Once the excitement died down Tye and Ward wet lines in Rock Tree Lake while Reed busied himself doing some modifications on his boot inserts. His heels looked like absolute raw meat and hurt to the point that he asked us about bail out points and where the nearest town was, what road he’d be hiking to and where the car was parked. I felt badly for him.
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What Reed didn’t know was that Brad and I had discussed, while doing an after-dinner hike up to Z Lake, bringing up this very point since we knew there was no way the trip was going to get any easier from where we were to at least Donelson Lake across the Beartooth Plateau. After that was unknown. We figured the climb to High Pass Lake wouldn’t be easy on his heels but the real worrisome section was the descent from High Pass Lake down to Second Rock Lake which looked like it could be rough and miserable for a guy with blisters like his.
Noting that we’d been able to see Marianne Lake a short time before reaching camp we were able to determine that about 8 miles of painful hiking on trail would get Reed to Kersey Lake. Hopefully it would be easy hitch down to Cooke City where he could recuperate and meet up with us in a few days.
After a little discussion Reed had decided to make his decision the next morning after a good night’s sleep. I figured if there was any way he could make it go he would considering he had to miss the 2008 trip
I still had some moleskin left over in my pack and was pretty sure I’d be donating that to the cause in the morning either way despite having a couple of small hotspots on my own heels. Not a big deal to me as I knew I’d have my heavy breathing and fatigued legs to take my mind off of a blister or two.
Tye, Ward and myself stayed up until after 10:00, able to partake in some post-dinner banner for the first time. It had been a good day and I felt the best physically I had during the trip. I still sucked going up but at least I was faster than a crippled Reed!
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