August 6th
Being a light sleeper, I heard Qtip moving around so I got going in the dark. It is easier than you might think to break camp and hike with just headlamps. We only needed the headlamps for the first mile.
When I hike with Qtip, I like to let him lead, not just for his spider web catching abilities (for which I am thankful), but he is a good pathfinder. He doesn’t look at his phone every three minutes to find the route, rather, he has good instincts.
Just before dawn, we came to a clearing and up about 40 feet ahead were two huge bull elk on the trail. I whispered to Qtip to stop, but the elk also heard me. We only got a few seconds glimpse before they were gone.
The area around Brooks Lake is notorious for being bear country. Backpackers think of the National Parks as the two locations for bears. However, the literacy rate among bears is terrible and they leave the Park boundary all the time. On our way to Brooks Lake there were many signs, but no sightings.
The valley where Brooks Lake is located is beautful. Sharp, striking moutains rising on both sides. A beautiful valley of meadows and lakes. Honestly, it was more attractive than many of the more famous places on the trail.
I picked up my resupply at Brooks Lake Lodge. The staff there were all very friendly and helpful. The kitchen staff even offered some extra cinnamon rolls they had leftover. I tried to charge my battery as much as possible. I was down pretty low on all my electronics and it would be another 7 days before I could get charged again.
Hiking out after a resupply is tough. I basically have about 2.5 pounds of food for every day. So, a 7 day resupply is over 15 pounds. With a busted backpack, this made for some tough going early on.
There was a fire burning near the official trail. A re-route had been devised. However, getting information on the new route was difficult. Northbounders had different descriptions. However, what eventually made sense was to simply follow the Ley map red route.
I walked along the forest service road from the Lodge. There were plenty of springs along the way. Next, I walked along the freeway for a mile, and finally I left the highway at Togwotee Pass. At the high altitude, the terrain alternated between open grass, clumps of trees, and, where there was water, small alders and willows.
I was pleasantly surprised at how often there were springs, initially. After a few miles of walking on forest road (ATV, really), I realized I had walked past my junctions where I was supposed to turn on an “old jeep trail”. I turned around and was surprised to see the footprints of the fast four. I hoped I could catch up with them.
The “old jeep trail” was totally nonexistent. It was late and I was grumpy. But, as I’ve learned, my attitude about the trail has absolutely no influence on the trail. So, I just bushwhacked to where I thought the trail should be. Eventually, I found it. Later, I met a couple who were northbound and they had similar issues coming from the other direction.
I spent the afternoon hiking through burned out forest, clumps of untouched trees, and some open meadows. The trail eventually followed an abandoned road. All afternoon, clouds had been building, so I planned to get to water and then a place away from potential storms.
As I dropped out of the forest to Fish Creek, the trees got sparse. It was open sage country for the most part. I walked past a canvas tent with 2 horses corralled outside. Later, as I was scurrying to find a campsite, I met the people who had the canvas tent. It was a man and his son. They were in a red steel wagon and they were being pulled by two beautiful horses. After the usual chit-chat about the trail and what they were doing, he informed me the horses were from Central Park. They had been used to draw carriages around the NYC park, were auctioned off, and ended up in the middle of nowhere.
Eventually, I found a clump of trees on the side of a ridge with a flat spot. I got my tent up as the main storm blew through. It did not rain after that so I had a great night’s sleep.
backpacking over the hill 