To Big Sky and visit with Robert and Julie
Wow, we've crossed the Tobacco Root range, about 60 miles, then resupplied in Ennis and crossed the Spanish Peaks range, another 60 miles. Cory and I came down to Big Sky, and my old friend Robert came and scooped us up and whisked us away to his home in Bozeman. What a gift! It's been an amazing day, sharing stories, learning about Montana and the Rockies. Robert has done many first ascents in these ranges, and by now all the classic ice and rock climbs. Mark Pratt lives here too, and it's been twenty years since one of my favorite trips ever with Robert and Mark into the Bugaboos range...
The Tobacco Root mountains were quite rugged. Robert described them as a "Redneck Riviera," meaning that a lot of folks on motorcycles and all-terrain vehicles use and love the range. It was true! On the first day we only saw one person, a guy on a motorcycle in the evening. He was surprised to see hikers.
We got a ride into Ennis from a couple with a kayak, people more from "our tribe," lol...but then had a great time talking with locals there who then gave us a ride back north to a campground where we sat out by our tents eating fried chicken and sharing a bottle of wine. In the morning, a transplanted Georgian (the state) took us back up to Ennis Lake to start the trip into the Spanish Peaks.
The first day in these mountains was tough because we had to climb up from the hot valley floor. Also, Cory dropped his wallet in here, and we wondered how to resolve that problem over the next day. After some tiring up-and-down climbing we set a camp on a ridge with more mosquitoes per square meter than we'd seen since Glacier National Park. We had to eat carefully to avoid a mouthful of 'em...
The next day we dropped into a valley and reclimbed. I felt really at peace here...I loved climbing up through stunted trees, and I did a walking meditation to quiet the "monkey mind." I realized it had nothing to say to me. The cool breeze and blue sky promised a great day. It was time for an adventure.
I told Cory about my plan, hatched long before to do an ambitious traverse near the summits of this range. I got the idea from a marking on a map that said "high level traverse through Spanish Lakes to Beehive Basin possible but not recommended." I'd researched it on the net, and found that the key was a climbers route through "4th of July Pass" under Beehive Peak. Cory and I had climbing experience, so it seemed that with sufficient time and weather, we could do it.
And as a bonus, we'd visit a pass above 10k feet with a view down to cell towers around Big Sky which would allow him to see if anyone had turned in his wallet. We trundled our way through basins with burbling meadows and granite boulders, then climbed up to that pass. Sure enough, someone had found it and made some calls! He began the work of retrieval with messages left...
Down again below the Spanish Lakes, then up into them, where we smelled a campfire and saw a hunters camp with a Montana flag. We followed a faint path up towards the highest lakes, and debated exactly where we were supposed to pass over the ridge into Beehive Basin and relative safety. We enjoyed planning each subsequent stage of our route: first onto a morainal pass, then across a boulderfield, then up a snowfield where it wasn't too steep...
Finally, we went straight up ominously shifting talus slopes, now committed to reaching the ridge crest. Just before we were really climbing, we were able to glance down into a couloir and recognize it provided a way to the top. Doubled over under the weight of our packs, we scrambled and fought our way up to sit triumphant at the top. Wow...
Okay, now to get down. Initially, it looked easier than what we'd come up, but in fact, it was more technical. Here, a misstep could prove fatal, and with heavy packs to unbalance us, we really had to watch out. We followed a faint climbers path down solid rock on the right side, sticking together with little rests at small buttresses of rock. Finally we reached old snow near the bottom, but continued on the rock because we had no ways to arrest a fall on the snow. The last moves were interesting, but soon enough, we stood safely on "merely" steep hiking terrain.
This was certainly the most technical part of the trip. Well satisfied, I voted for a camp with our descent in full view so we could look at it as the sun set and think about what we came through...
We've planned our route now to Mammoth in Wyoming about three days from now, and then across Yellowstone to rejoin the main CDT line at Lewis Lake. We're sending a box forward today to a lodge along the trail, and that'll serve us through the first 4 days of the Wind Rivers Mountains. After a break in Pinedale, we'll head back in for the second half and a visit to the remote and beautiful Cirque of the Towers. Of course, Robert has preceded me there, and climbed all the choice towers! After another 4-5 days, we'll come out of the range to South Pass City, where a resupply box will allow us to begin walking across the hellish "basin": 120 miles of wearysome desert, populated by hordes of black flies and nothing else. Finally, we'll be rescued by the climb up into Colorado Mountains, where I'll exit to mop up some missing sections from last year, and Cory will continue plugging his way south to Mexico...
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