People on Trip: Chris, Doug, Tyler and Grant
Distance: About 41 Miles
Total Climbing Elevation: 8,176 ft.
The original plan with this trip was to try to make it to Pentad Lake on day 1, and then to Asteroid Lake on day 2. Based on my GPS software (which had the trail), it said it was 11.3 miles to Pentad Lake. But it actually ended up being about 12.6 miles to that area. My guess is that the map on the software did not reflect the actual trail route 100% accurately. That combined with Grant having heart issues with the elevation changed the plan by camping at Columbine Lake that night. The good news is that after the first day, Grant did not have any issues with the elevation and was able to keep a decent pace.
With that said, the inaccurate data I was basing the trip off of, made the planned itinerary not realistic for the group. I do think my original itinerary is doable, but combined with my blister problems and half of the group having 50+ lb. packs was probably the main factor in preventing this from happening (besides the altitude sickness). This is not meant as a complaint, because the trip still turned out great. This is more of notes for myself when considering an aggressive itinerary and planning future trips.
The first day I developed fairly bad blisters on my heels. This was quite a shock for me because I had hiked 50 miles backpacking this summer before this trip, and I had never developed blisters on my heels. This was the most limiting factor for me on the trip, as they got more painful as the trip went on.
I can't remember if this happened on the first or second day, but I totally ruined one pair of socks by drying them near the fire. I knew this was risky, but you really don't understand how risky this is until you actually ruin a pair of socks. When you get as much rain as we did, trying to keep one pair of socks dry when you only brought two pairs is very difficult. But if you are going to use a fire, I suggest holding the pair of socks over the fire and moving them around over the heat.
Columbine Lake was a fairly scenic area. As the trail guide suggested, we thought the lake was too shallow to fish, so we did not try to fish this lake. But we had a good campsite. Later in the evening (I think around 7 or so), a massive storm came in and started dumping large amounts of hail on us. It hit us very quickly, and we didn't have much time to prepare. Our feet and hands were cold and it rained/hailed for about an hour. I was able to get a fire going after it stopped for a while, but then it started up again and forced us into our tents for the evening. My shoes/socks got soaked and I went to bed wet...which led to the worst night I've had backpacking so far (cold and lack of sleep).
On day 2, we hiked up to Columbine Pass...which was a bit of a climb, but it wasn't difficult for very long. The real beauty (IMO), was when we started coming down from the pass and seeing the Pentad Lake area. We all talked about regretting not spending a night in this beautiful area. I highly suggest stopping at this lake if you go here.
The hike up to Jordan Pass wasn't extremely difficult, but that changed when it started raining and hailing while we were at the top of the pass. I found it humorous to watch Grant and my dad get into their rain gear...just because it took so long. They were standing out in the middle of a field during a thunderstorm while it was hailing, and it seemed like it took them 10 minutes to get on their gear.
The difficult part about this hike for me was having soaked feet and making the ascent into the Lake Plateau area. We were hiking slow and the rain made everything more difficult. I'm sure this did not help my aching blisters, but at that point the pain did not bother me....I was in survival mode (I just wanted to get to our destination). Looking at the track from my GPS software, it looks like we hiked about 12 miles that day, which made it the most difficult hiking day of the trip.
On day 2 we made it to Lake Pinchot. When Tyler and I were walking around the lake, I took a pretty bad fall when I slipped on a rock. I bruised my knee and my arm when I slipped on a big rock and took a hard hit to the ground.
According to the trail guide, Lake Pinchot was the "crown jewel" of the Lake Plateau area....which is not accurate in my opinion. Maybe this is something that can be claimed as far as the beauty of each lake is concerned in the Lake Plateau area. But Lake Pinchot is very marshy and the Rainbow Lakes area is much more interesting with how many lakes are easily accessible. There was no lake in the Lake Plateau area that was extremely scenic, but there are few areas in Montana that have as many lakes condensed into a small area as this hike. In my opinion, Pentad Lake is the most scenic lake that we saw on this trip.
We finally found an acceptable camp site at Lake Pinchot. Again we were forced into our tents early this night because of the rain. We were thinking about making the hike to Asteroid Lake the next day, but since it was very marshy and hard hiking around Lake Pinchot, we decided that it wasn't worth the risk in going there if it was going to be that marshy on the trail. Not to mention that the trail was very difficult to follow in that area.
On day 3 we made the short hike to Owl Lake to setup a possible base camp for two nights. We found a great camp site that had gorgeous views of the area all around. We discovered that Owl Lake did not have any fish, which was kind of disheartening because this would be the third day on the trip and we hadn't caught a fish yet. We decided to day hike to the lakes in the immediate area (which there were about 4) and were able to catch some fish. Like the previous day, thunderstorms rolled in that afternoon and made things very cold.
That night was the first night we were able to stay up late. We chatted around the camp fire and watched the stars on the clear night. The stars were absolutely amazing....I've never seen so many stars! I also brought out the 1L of brandy I had brought, and we passed that around. This evening was the highlight of the trip for me. Hanging around the campfire, smoking cigars, and watching the stars!
We stayed at the same camp site on day 4. We decided to day hike to Wounded Man lake that morning. We caught a total of 9 fish that day and had them for lunch. This was the only day on the trip where we did not pack up camp, so we had a lot of free time to chill and do whatever. Grant was gracious enough to give me a Cuban cigar, which was very good. Of course it rained during part of the day, but it did not last too long. We did see a full rainbow that day after it stopped raining.
On day 5 it started raining while I got up. We quickly setup camp and were hiking by 8:30 or so. We made the 4 or 5 mile hike to Horseshoe Lake.
That morning was a low point for me in the trip. I was very tired, and my feet were hurting. I also was very home sick at that point. I got depressed with the inaccuracy of my trip planning. I think part of this was caused by me not eating enough food the first half of the day. Looking back on how I planned the trip, I do think I did the best I could with the information I had...but I wish I looked closer at the numbers that were listed in the trail guide. I had noticed the difference between my numbers and the trail guide numbers before the trip, but since my gps software was very accurate with the two other trips I was on (the ones that had trails on the map), I had assumed it was going to be the same way for this trip. Other than my blisters, this was the hardest thing we had to learn on the trip, but we made due and had a great trip.
This Horseshoe Lake area is a fairly scenic area and we found a good campsite. Like the three previous days before this one, the afternoon thunderstorms rolled in. Tyler caught two twelve inch cutthroat trout from this lake, but no one else was able to catch anything.
That evening I went to gut and clean one of the trout Tyler caught. I began cutting up the fish, using my knife. I decided to step down onto a rock closer to the water. Immediately when I took a step, both feet slipped on the rock and I fell into the marshy water. Luckily I only scratched one of my legs and bruised my wrist, so it wasn't a big deal. But it could have turned out really bad since I was holding my open knife!
On day 6, we got up early and headed back to the trail head. It was an easy hike, since most of it was down hill. The interesting thing about this hike was how the landscape changed when going from the high elevation area to the low elevation area. We made it to the trail head right before a big storm came through.
Tyler had noticed mice that had gotten into his truck. They didn't do any damage, but it was annoying. We had a great lunch at a cafe in Big Timber.
Here are a few things I learned on this trip:
- For any trips going forward, I am going to pre-wrap my feet with duct tape in any areas that have showed signs of blisters.
- The Platypus gravity filter Grant brought for the group worked very well. Not having to pump for water saved a lot of time and energy. This is one item that would work great for a large group.
- I thought my trail running shoes worked okay on this trip, but I'm beginning to think that a trail runner that is a bit more comfortable and a bit more heavy duty than what I've got would be twice as good. I'm using the lightest trail runners around, and I think using a pair that is one or two steps up from this pair would work out the best.
- During the hike, the group noticed that my feet tended to lean towards the inside. They thought that this could be causing my hip flexor problems. They said I should go see a doctor to possibly get orthotics to correct the problem. This was invaluable information, as this could solve the problem that I have been experiencing for multiple years.
- The only thing I forgot on this trip was my gators. On previous trips I did not think they helped that much...until I went on this trip when I didn't have them (and my socks got sooooo dirty). If you use trail runners, these are highly recommended.
- Investing in a good, down insulation layer is worth it in this environment. In a thirty minute period, it seemed like it would drop at least 20 or 30 degrees and get very cold when a storm rolled through. Also it got chilly at night. I've never been on a trip where I got as cold as I did on this trip.
- Bringing sleeping socks and a sleeping layer (maybe long john's) is worth looking into for managing your temperature at night. I did not sleep very well four out of the five nights on this trip because part of my body was either too warm or cold.
- On this trip I only brought a total of two pairs of socks, when I should have brought three pairs.
- This was the only backpacking trip where I had wanted rain pants. I'm still not 100% sure this would be worth it, but I am considering it for hikes that are this long when I only have one pair of pants that I wear all the time. Going to bed in wet pants is not fun!
- When planning backpacking trips (especially this long), I really need to pressure the group that is going to spend time on their end verifying that my mileage estimates and itinerary is accurate for the group that is going. I know I am not perfect in regards to planning trips, and it would be very helpful if people would double check my claims and make sure I am not taking people into the pit of hell. You can't 100% know for sure of any trail, but the more eyes and minds researching a trip, the more we should be able to create an itinerary we can stick to.
Also, it would be good to not only have one main itinerary, but also one or two alternative itineraries that we can consider as options on the trail if the main plan doesn't work for some reason. - Especially with a trip this long, I need at least one recovery day before going back to work. This would allow me to enjoy the trip more and not want to come home early.
- I think it would be awesome to bring a pack raft on these trips. Especially with the lakes that are marshy or shallow near the shore.
Here is a little video I made on the hike. Watch at your own risk:
I will be going to Hilgard Basin in a few weeks, so stay tuned for that trip report!
