July 23rd
I woke up and was a little sluggish after two days of 26 miles each. Once I did get going, I was surprised to see a fresh set of footprints on trail. They must’ve passed my camp this morning. It wasn’t the younger couple, so somebody new. I followed the new footprints up a meandering creek with alder and willows; seemed like perfect moose habitat. Sure enough, I came across a moose having breakfast. I was a little elevated so I had a good view. She was not thrilled to see me, but she also did not panic.
Here, again, the trail split into an alternate that was supposed to be more scenic versus the official route. I took the official and the new footprints took the alternate.
The trail went up. As a result, it went from forest to dry, higher ground with small patches of pine. I saw a lone wolf in one pass. He looked a little thin and I suspect wide open terrain for a single wolf is tough hunting.
After the morning’s first ascent, the trail went down to Deadman’s Lake. No explanation as to whether there was a deadman found there, or a person visited the lake then died, or somebody threatened another that if they went to the lake they were a deadman. The possibilities could fill a hiker’s mind. Rounding the ridge top, the blue green lake below was beautiful. As I followed the official trail down, I noticed an all wheel drive trail that bombed straight down. No, I would stick to the official trail. An hour later I was mad at myself as the official trail shot gently past and away from the lake, mileage I would have to cover.
Two curious things about Deadman Lake. First, there was a fox. I startled him and he sprinted down the trail. He stopped. I approached and again he sprinted ahead. We did this a few more times before he finally realized he could run off trail. The second curiosity was an outhouse. Just sitting there, all vandalized. With no roads to Deadman’s Lake, it was a curious structure to find.
I climbed up again, this time through another Deadman Pass. Pretty tough country. I would continue to go up and down through hot, dry country all day. The horse flies were tenacious. I found a north bound hiker when I was resting at Bannack Pass which was even lonelier than Bannock Pass. Thunderstorms threatened in the afternoon heat, but never coalesced.
Once the trail entered a forested area with springs, I started looking for a safe place to camp. I was across from Garfield Mountian, a huge, mostly featureless block of stone. As I contemplated it while catching my breath. I noticed about 2/3rds of the way up was a large black shape that looked like it was moving. I focused and thought it must be a moose, but I couldn’t understand what a moose was doing up that high. Then, it moved into a slightly more open area and I made out the shape of a black bear. I’m a suburban boy, but given how far away the bear was and that it was very clear what it was, I think it must’ve been huge. I immediately searched my memory for any fragments of feeding patterns of black bears and whether he would cross the valley and visit me in the night.
backpacking over the hill 