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| Looking back at Lake Helen |
I woke up only once at night which is pretty rare for me
while on the trail. Usually every little noise will roust
me from my slumber, so I must have been sleeping pretty
deeply. I got up for good at 6:40 with the tent and meadow
covered in frost. The silver lining here was that my bag
had kept me cozy warm through the night. Until then I wasn't
sure how accurate the rating was. At least now I knew it
would suffice for my August/September Glacier trip.
"Would like to start for home
by 4 PM but am having 2nd, 3rd, and 9th thoughts. Would
like to watch soccer game on Tuesday, on the other hand
I'll probably never get another chance to solo in a wilderness
area. What to do? I think I'm going home. I can't deal with
another night of laying in the tent alone."
My plan decided upon I planned my course of attack. I figured
that if I could get back to the trailhead by 4 PM I should
be able to make it back to Appleton, WI, in time to watch
Matt's soccer game on Tuesday night. OK, that's settled.
I quickly moved my camp from the shaded area to a sunny
one to facilitate the drying of my very wet tent and had
some more GORP and powdered milk for breakfast. By 8:30
I was on the trail, dreading the climb back out. The waterfall
was just as pretty as it was coming in and I paused to take
several more pictures.
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| Tensleep Creek meandering towards West Tensleep Lake.
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"9:15. Wasted. Just have to make
it up to Mistymoon. From there it's only about 4 hours downhill.
I can only do about 75 steps uphill before needing a rest.
Uggh."
The water crossing I had to change shoes for yesterday
was easily hopped across with the aid of my trekking poles
and exposed rocks. Just saved myself 10 minutes, I'm flying
now---only one more push up to Mistymoon and I'll be able
to coast. I continued to pause frequently for pictures as
it was another beautiful day and the scenery truly awe inspiring.
I decided that this would be the perfect place to take Yumi
if we ever got the chance to get away for less than a week.
I made it to Mistymoon by 11 AM, took a break and grabbed
a quick snack at the junction of trails 63 and 38.
In less than an hour I was sitting at the foot of Lake
Helen and enjoyed beef sticks, string cheese and Ritz crackers
which was much more palatable than the tuna I had yesterday.
Even the trout feeding in the lake enjoyed tiny bits of
string cheese. Ah, the power of Wisconsin cheese is universal.
The rest of the trip back down was spent chatting with
numerous groups heading into the backcountry, specifically
Mistymoon. It was going to be crowded up there tonight as
at least 5 groups I had met said they planned to camp there
for the evening.
I took my time heading through the last of the meadows
and continued to take photos. I was still having second
thoughts about getting off so soon and wanted to have a
nice photo record of the area to show Yumi and my family
upon my return. By 3:30 I was back at the trailhead. Had
I not stopped to talk with everyone I met I probably could
have been back by 2:30.
As I unlocked the truck the only thing I could think of
was grabbing a cold coke and an apple from my cooler. I
was not disappointed as the Coke was still cold and the
apple crisp and juicy. I changed into my flip flops and
started on down the road back to Boulder Park Campground
to let Grandpa Dick know I was heading out. He wasn't there,
but I'll catch him next time I'm out. I suspect I'll be
back and hope he's still the host when I do.
The drive over Powder River Pass was even more spectacular
than it was coming from the other direction when it was
rainy. These are truly the beautiful mountains I remember
passing through on a family vacation when I was 13.
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