July 21: Elkhart Park to Hobbs Lake

View of Fremont and Jackson Peak from Photographers Point.

Not genetically programmed to sleep late I woke up at 6:30, threw on some shorts and took a walk around town. The morning was crisp and cool and I wondered how that could be considering the warm nights we experienced 3000’ higher up in the mountains?

It didn’t matter. Yumi was awake and in the shower when I got back so I started munching on the donuts we’d bought at Falers the previous afternoon and slowly packed the truck. After my shower we were ready to head up to the Elkhart Park TH. I made a phone call to Mary at work just to let her know we had survived on the way before losing our signal. The rest of the drive was pleasant, paved and short--everything the drive to Big Sandy was not---and by 9 AM were at the trailhead.

For a high use trailhead there were not that many cars in the lot which was a good thing to see. While I enjoy talking to people I meet on the trail, I don’t want to compete for camp sites with them nor even see anyone once we set up camp. We were off at 9:25 after another check of our gear.

View of our camp between Hobbs Lake and an unnamed Lake

I had some vague notion that we’d camp somewhere around Hobbs Lake as there didn’t seem to be much suitable real estate between there and the head of Seneca Lake. It didn’t really matter where we stayed since we’d easily make it to either Titcomb or Indian Basins the next night anyway so why worry about it? Once again the trail leading into the Bridger Wilderness began with a long, gradual uphill trek. The grade was slight enough that it didn’t feel like we were walking uphill so the miles melted away without much exertion needed. We did stop after about an hour for a short respite but then began climbing after only 5 minutes.

Near Miller Park we ran across a couple of guys who were hiking the CDT. We chatted with them for a while and they agreed to leave some mail for Squilax at the registration box for me letting his group know of our change in itinerary. Thanks “Packrat” and Wolf 23,000” for helping us out. Shortly after that we came across a family of 4 from missouri which included a young boy about 5. WE’d play leapfrog with them until we got to Photographer’s Point.

We reached Photographers Point just after noon. What a perfect place to eat lunch and talk with Dane and Melissa from Florida (day hikers) as well as the Missouri family. I think Yumi and I convinced the Floridians to take up backpacking. We were all in we of the view we had of Jackson and Fremont Peaks---our ultimate destination on this hike In all, we spent a good hour and a half at Photographers Point, finally getting started again just past 1:30.

Knowing that we wasted a lot of time at lunch, we set our sights on Hobbs Lake for our first night’s camp a mere 2 miles away. The trail undulated a bit while passing Eklund and Barbara Lakes as well as a few small tarns and by 3:15 we arrived at the head of Hobbs. Finding a campsite here was not difficult; finding a great one took a little time. we eventually settled for a site closer to a small pond a hundred miles northeast of Hobbs.

After getting the tent up and water filtered, Yumi and I made the short walk over to Hobbs so that I could try my luck fishing. As usual, I was skunked but had a good time trying anyway, After dinner I was able to forage enough wood to build a camp fire to help knock down the hordes of mosquitoes.