Rocky Mtn New Year - TR

“Met up with EddieS (from bp.com)Friday morning at Beaver Meadows Visitor Center and went in to talk with the staff about current conditions and such. After obtaining our permits we went to drop my car at the Cub Lake trailhead and ride around to the Bear Lake parking area.

Our plan was to hike out the Odessa Lake trail find a place to camp up around Lake Helene. On Saturday we wanted to attempt a summit of Flattop Mountain (weather permitting) and then Sunday continue on through Odessa Gorge to Fern Lake and back to my car at the Cub Lake trailhead.

Best laid plans, ya know?

The hike Friday went as planned. There was a fairly well packed trail in the snow leading away from Bear Lake, and we saw several people on both skis and snowshoes heading up the mountain. Once we passed the turnoff to Flattop though the trail was less well packed and eventually we were following a single pair of ski trails up the mountain. About 2.5 miles up we saw the skier whiz down the slope below the trail and then start angling back towards us as the trail cut across, traversing the slope. Beyond this the trees opened up and we could see the summit of Flattop to our left. We discussed that this would be a good place to come back to on Saturday to head up to the summit. Pushing ahead we started to look for the “campsite”, but finally decided that the Park sign must be buried in snow. We found a nice sheltered place to camp. It would be hard to have picked a more perfect place – we could hear the wind in the trees, but we couldn’t feel it at all.

After dropping packs and pitching the tent we went up about 400 yards to the Lakes – Two Rivers Lake and Lake Helene at the head of Odessa Gorge. Lake Helene sits at 10,580 feet. Notchtop Mountain and Little Matterhorn loomed over the gorge on the other side with Flattop to the left. Flattop’s summit is listed as 12,324. We had been told that to get down the gorge to Odessa Lake would be challenging, if not impossible in the snow. Odessa Lake was sitting down at the foot of the gorge and we could see the trail below to the right on a shelf angling down the sheer slope of the gorge walls. But, we could not find any safe means of accessing the shelf. After exploring the area for over an hour we finally decided that to attempt a descent into the gorge would be foolhardy and vowed to come back in the summer.

Score: mountains 1 hikers 0

Back at camp did the usual camp chores, dinner, etc. I gotta say that this was one of the pretties winter scenes I’ve ever seen – snow laying on the fir branches, pure unspoiled blanket of white everywhere you looked. We melted some snow for water, I had my dose of hot chocolate and we went to bed. Slept warm and had a nice night.

On Saturday we woke up to building clouds in the west and a snowfall that became progressively heavier. The summit of Notchtop and Flattop were completely obscured and a short walk after breaking camp back to the lakes confirmed that there would be no summit attempt today. In the open area around the lakes the wind was blowing a gale and the snow stung as it hit your face. Our tracks from the day before were completely gone and you couldn’t tell anyone had been there. The temp was dropping fast and the snow seemed to be just getting heavier. As we broke camp there was this one bird that just kept flitting around the trees around us, looking for crumbs to munch on no doubt. The bird didn’t seem to mind the cold at all. Once or twice his little feet broke through the surface of the snow and he spread his wings out to ‘catch’ himself – was interesting to watch.

Score: mountains 2 hikers 0

After discussing our options, we decided to go cross country and follow a stream bed around the flank of Mount Wuh (maybe they ran out of names) and make camp in Mill Creek Basin that night. We dropped into the obvious, boulder-filled stream bed and began to follow it, but quickly realized that the snow was hiding all signs of where the creek lay. After redirecting ourselves on a compass heading of East-North-East a few times, and at one point finding that we had turned and were heading in exactly the WRONG direction we decided the smart move would be to backtrack a bit and regain the trail. Several factors at play here: No view of the sun, no view of the mountain tops, Snow obscuring the stream bed. Without the visual clues and landmarks we were at a serious disadvantage to navigate cross country. To top all this off, I was developing a serious headache, likely due to a combination of altitude and the low pressure system and from probably not drinking enough water.

So regaining the trail we headed back down towards Bear Lake and planned to follow the trail to Mill Creek Basin. On the way down we got some stunning views and could at times see where our streambed lay, but it was just a guess.

I lost a little confidence in the topography accuracy of the Trails Illustrated map I have by now as well. Several features that I could see are not well represented on the map.

When we reached the junction that would either take us to Mill Creek Basin or back to the Bear Lake trailhead I looked at Eddie and admitted that my headache was going to make for a rather miserable day and I felt it would be better to bail out. So back to his jeep we went. Driving back around to my car, the headache subsided a bit (we dropped about 1,000 feet in elevation) and we decided to do a little hiking without packs or snowshoes around Cub Lake and the Arches.

The Arches are truly impressive – a 50 – 60 foot rock seems to be standing on end, stuck in the ground and stands opposed to a house sized boulder and the two seem to bend towards each other over the trail. Continuing on, the trail climbs over a ridge to access the Cub Lake drainage and descending above Cub Lake we saw two big bull elk feeding in the grass along the shoreline. As we neared Moraine Park looking back the clouds had cleared enough to let the sunlight cast an orange/pink glow on the snow covered peaks to the west and even with the headache occasionally making my noggin throb it was a very good day to be out.

All in all, this was a great trip, even though we cut it short. Several firsts for me: making camp in the snow; camping in the shadow of the Continental Divide; seeing Bull Elk in the wild; camping at about 10,500 feet; melting snow for water (takes a LOT of snow to make a liter of water). I’ll be going back – soon!


pics soon to follow....”

“sorry your hike didn't go as planned, but sometimes that's sorta fun because u know u still gotta conquer it!

hiking with someone on the other side? pssh,.. what's wrong with you, boy?!

PICS.”

“New Year's Eve Pics

(whenever webshots gets around to actually showing them!)

yeah, hiking with someone from the other side (he's posted here before too though). None of you losers would make the trip! hahahahahaha
last edited: 1/02/05 12:17:42 PM”

“gorgeous pics, roam”

“so you did get a headache huh? I wonder how I will react once I reach this sort of altitude.

Checking the pics now...

HEY...I KNOW you didn't just call us all losers, did you?? HUH???”

“i believe he did, gem. i was trying to avoid confrontation lol”

“Hey Roam, I think he only posted under his troll name here. I met him last Aug when I did the Indian Peak Wilderness”

“Cool pics and trip report!”

“Nice pics Roam!”

“The man hiked with me because he knows class.
You, however, have my permission, given before all present, to BITE MY CLANK !!

Perhaps you may be lucky enough, some day, to smell my farts as you hike behind me.

It was a grand time, do it again in a heartbeat.”

“Yeah, you go ahead and eat schitt with your Rocky Mountain horse#&%!$!!!!




(happy new year, pal!!!)”

“LOL

What is a Ewker anyway?”

“LOL...he found out!!!”

“yep, so I heard!”

“burrr. looks chilly.

nice pics Roam”

“Hey ScorchFire
“The man hiked with me because he knows class.
You, however, have my permission, given before all present, to BITE MY CLANK !!

Perhaps you may be lucky enough, some day, to smell my farts as you hike behind me.

a clank? um, cute(??) choice of word. very cute. cute. like a little boy.
last edited: 1/02/05 9:00:51 PM”

“clank? um, cute(??) choice of word. very cute. cute. like a little boy.
last edited: 1/02/05 9:00:51 PM”
ScorchFire


LOL- OK then, just for that, you can forget about EVER smelling MY farts.

BTW, "CLANK" is the Japanese word for "CRANK"
Now you have some culture...
last edited: 1/02/05 11:05:29 PM”

“The man hiked with me because he knows class.
You, however, have my permission, given before all present, to BITE MY CLANK !!

Perhaps you may be lucky enough, some day, to smell my farts as you hike behind me.

It was a grand time, do it again in a heartbeat."
-EddieS

Oooh, zing from the other side...

Awesome trip and awesome pictures. I really need to get out there sometime soon”

“awesome pics Roam! Great way to spend New Years weekend! outstanding.”

“Ya just can't beat the Continental Divide.”

“BTW, "CLANK" is the Japanese word for "CRANK"
Now you have some culture...

i have enough japanese culture, but thanks. i've probably been there more than yourself.”

“BTW, "CLANK" is the Japanese word for "CRANK"
Now you have some culture...

i have enough japanese culture, but thanks. i've probably been there more than yourself.”
ScorchFire


You're in love with me, aren't you. I know I am. But it would never work, I could never let another person come between me. Sorry, really.”

“Sooo...would u guys want to do the Flattop Mtn Trail to Hallett Peak to Andrews Glacier back down through the Loch?”

“Looks like 11-12 mile trip, starting from Bear Lake. That's doable in good weather in winter. What about coming down that slope below the lake below the glacier? something Tarn?. Other than that, looks easy.

I'll do it.”

“Now THAT sounds like a great idea.

without looking at any maps or anything, is this doable in a day, it'd be cool to camp down at the Loch after reaching it.

Glissade down Andrews Glacier?


man, I gotta get me an ice axe!”