On 7-16-13, the day after Lupe’s long day spent looking for Fossil Lake (and actually reaching Fizzle Lake instead) in the Beartooth Mountains of Montana, Lupe and SPHP spent an easy day in camp on the Clark’s Fork of the Yellowstone River. There weren’t nearly so many “bad bugs” (mosquitoes) at camp, so SPHP started feeling more positive about staying in the Beartooths another couple of days.
SPHP still had it in mind that Lupe ought to at least try to reach Sky Pilot Lake before leaving the Beartooths. Getting there would be a very long day hike. In the morning, SPHP spent some time looking at maps to consider possible alternate routes. In the afternoon, a guy named Mick drove up in his motor home and camped by the river near Lupe’s camp. Mick was originally from England, but had married an American. Now he and his wife live in Boulder, CO.
Mick was very friendly and quite a character. He had a start in the music industry in England, but spent most of his career as a welder in the USA. He had been many places and had lots of stories to tell. Although Mick was traveling alone, he does own a dog. Mick was very kind to Lupe, even giving her treats intended for his dog.
SPHP spent hours visiting with Mick. In the evening, Mick invited SPHP and Lupe in for a tour of his motor home. Lupe got to spend the whole evening in there “roughing it” in the lap of luxury. Mick knows lots of famous people from the music industry. He said he has had a tremendously fun life. He told some pretty wild tales about the music industry, places he had been, and people he knew. His nickname in the music industry was “puker” – not terribly charming, but related to the wild partying lifestyle he shared for a while with the rich and famous.
On 7-17-13, Lupe and SPHP woke up pretty early, refreshed from the easy prior day in camp spent visiting with Mick. Lupe and SPHP were ready to go find Sky Pilot Lake! SPHP intended to start the trek Beartooth Lake campground, so Lupe and SPHP went there first. However, SPHP wasn’t able to find a source of water there. Since the familiar Island Lake campground and trailhead were only a few miles farther E on Beartooth Hwy No. 212, SPHP quickly gave up on a start from Beartooth Lake. At the Island Lake campground, SPHP got water and Lupe was ready to go.
Lupe left the Island Lake trailhead at around 8:15 AM. Even though Lupe had taken the trail from Island Lake twice before (once with Lanis in August, 2012 as far as Beauty and Becker Lakes, and a 2nd time just 3 days earlier on 7-14-13 as far as Two Bits Lake), Lupe and SPHP were perfectly happy to take this trail again. It really is the easiest and most direct route to Sky Pilot Lake from Beartooth Hwy No. 212. Better yet, the entire trail goes through simply gorgeous alpine territory.
At first, Lupe and SPHP made very good time. Lupe and SPHP passed Island Lake, Night Lake, Flake Lake, Mutt & Jeff Lakes, Becker Lake and were all the way to Albino Lake by 11:15 AM. Soon Lupe and SPHP reached Jasper Lake. From Jasper Lake on, the going became much slower. Lupe left the trail at the S end of Jasper Lake, and the ground became progressively rougher with more and more boulder fields. The weather had been cool and overcast, which was great for hiking, but began to clear and became sunny as Lupe and SPHP worked around the E side of Jasper Lake.
From Jasper Lake, Lupe headed NNW up a rocky ridge towards Two Bits Lake. On the other side of the ridge was a series of little lakes and ponds scattered among the rocks and grassy areas. Once up on the ridge, instead of heading N for Two Bits Lake again (which Lupe had reached just 3 days earlier), this time Lupe stayed farther W. She wound her way around to cross the stream which comes from Two Bits Lake just downstream of Triskele Lake.
Lupe and SPHP were happy. Lupe was now exploring new country. It was all wonderful! Lupe and SPHP climbed NNW up the big ridge beyond Triskele Lake. Lupe kept coming to one false top after another. It was very rough country, but not a dangerous climb.
When Lupe finally reached the top of the ridge, there was a grand view from the SE to the SW all the way around to the NW. There were many high mountains in view. Relatively close by and most dramatic was Lonesome Mountain (11,399 ft.) back to the S. Nearby and for the first time, Lupe and SPHP could now see Donelson and Maryott Lakes below to the WNW.
Once up on the ridge, SPHP had expected it to be relatively easy to find High Pass where Lupe needed to go to get to Sky Pilot Lake, but even with the topo map it was hard to figure out exactly which way to go. Lupe and SPHP kept climbing along the ridgeline heading N and scrambling around the boulder fields trying to figure out which way was the easiest way to High Pass. The boulder fields really slowed progress down. SPHP could now see what looked like a line of storms developing to the W, and some big clouds that looked a bit threatening to the N of the high ridge hiding Sky Pilot Lake.
After much consulting of the maps and gazing at the terrain to the N, SPHP could see 3 possible ways that might lead to High Pass. The closest one was the westernmost. SPHP thought Lupe was too far W for it to be the right one, but although steep, it looked relatively easy to climb.
Since it was taking so long to traverse the endless boulder fields, SPHP didn’t want to go to the E to check out the other possibilities. SPHP decided Lupe would just climb this closest big ridge, which was directly N of the ridge Lupe was on. It took a while to get up there, but Lupe and SPHP finally got to the top.
At the top was a huge view in almost every direction. For the first time Lupe and SPHP could see farther N. SPHP had been right. Lupe’s climb up to this N ridge was W of the best access to High Pass. A few hundred feet below, Lupe and SPHP could see High Pass and High Pass Lake. Some dramatic towering jagged mountains including Sky Pilot Mountain (12,047 ft.) were in view beyond High Pass Lake.
By now the storm clouds to the W & N looked closer. SPHP realized there wasn’t a lot of time to dawdle. High Pass is 10,800+ feet and Lupe had climbed several hundred feet higher than that. Lupe was probably somewhere around 11,120+ feet. Lupe and SPHP worked on down the other side of the ridge into High Pass. Despite the need to hurry, it was slow going. Once down in the pass, the going was much easier. Lupe and SPHP headed N past High Pass Lake up to a small ridge. SPHP hoped to see Sky Pilot Lake from this ridge, but was disappointed when it was not visible from there.
There was one more ridge to the N, a bit lower, but which was hiding some land in a big cirque. SPHP thought Sky Pilot Lake might be just beyond that ridge. SPHP certainly hoped it would be. SPHP could see that there was a gigantic canyon ahead heading off to the NE. Lupe shouldn’t go very far down into the gigantic canyon to find Sky Pilot Lake, given the developing weather conditions. This last ridge was as far as SPHP was willing to go. So Lupe went down to the lower ridge. The first thing that Lupe saw was the upper end of the big cirque beyond the ridge.
The topo map showed a glacier in the big cirque. Although there was a considerable amount of snow, it really didn’t look like much. It certainly didn’t look like there was a glacier any more. More disappointingly, Sky Pilot Lake was not visible. Lupe and SPHP headed a bit further to the NNE up to the end of the ridge. There, nearby, but hundreds of feet below Lupe, was Sky Pilot Lake! Lupe had succeeded in finding it!
Sky Pilot Lake was a very beautiful lake! It shimmered with a gorgeous blue-green color when the sun shone on it. SPHP wished it hadn’t taken so long to get here, because it would have been great to go down to the shore of the lake and see it from there. However, it was getting late and the weather looked increasingly ominous. It clouded up, but then blue sky came out again. Lupe and SPHP sat high up near the end of the little ridge looking at the great view of Sky Pilot Lake. Lupe rested and had some Taste of the Wild and water.
Lupe and SPHP had been there maybe 20 minutes or more when Lupe started hearing thunder in the distance. Reluctantly, SPHP decided Lupe had better get going. After a last glance at Sky Pilot Lake, as fast as SPHP could manage, Lupe and SPHP scrambled back over to High Pass and High Pass Lake. Soon it completely clouded up and started to sprinkle. SPHP had raingear in the backpack, but did not stop to put it on.
Lupe got over High Pass and had just barely started down the S side of the pass when the storm hit with driving rain. Soon there was hail, too. The hail was only pea-sized, but still stung a bit. SPHP saw an especially big rock nearby with a little bit of an overhang. Lupe and SPHP headed for it. Arriving at the big rock, SPHP got Lupe under the overhang and out of the hail. There was room for SPHP’s head under there too, but that was it. At least the backpack provided some protection, too. Still, it was a good thing the hail didn’t get any bigger, or SPHP would have been pounded. Lupe and SPHP hid there under the overhang for a few minutes while it hailed and SPHP got drenched.
The hail let up pretty soon. Lupe and SPHP got going again. It was still raining, but not as hard. More concerning, lightning was now not too far away, and there was frequent thunder. The lightning was really the scariest thing. Lupe needed to lose elevation as fast as possible. Lupe and SPHP were way too high up and easy targets. As far as SPHP could see to the W (and SPHP could see a long way from here!), there were more storm clouds.
Lupe and SPHP scrambled onward. Sometimes it rained harder again, but mostly it was relatively light. Thankfully, it didn’t hail again. From the sound of the thunder, lightning was close, but still a little ways away. Lupe and SPHP made it all the way down through the biggest boulder fields and crossed the stream below Triskele Lake again. Lupe and SPHP were utterly alone. The scenery seemed even more beautiful, dramatic and wild in the storm. Once past the stream, Lupe and SPHP headed up and over the ridge to the S and down to Jasper Lake.
Lupe and SPHP were heading around the E side of Jasper Lake when the storm hit hard again. It poured rain and hailed again, but the hail was so tiny it didn’t do anything. This time though, the lightning was now close. It flashed all around and thunder roared, echoing in the mountains. Lupe and SPHP crouched down beside a big boulder not far from the shore of Jasper Lake. There Lupe waited for the storm to pass. It was an amazing view. The surface of Jasper Lake danced with raindrops while lightning struck Lonesome Mountain on the other side of the lake.
After 10 or 15 minutes, the rain let up quite a bit. The lightning and thunder moved away to the E. Lupe and SPHP got going again. Lupe and SPHP got up over the ridge S of Jasper Lake and started heading for Albino Lake. Although occasionally thunder and lightning threatened again, it was never as bad as at Jasper Lake and never again caused Lupe to seek cover. It rained, but not hard. Eventually the rain diminished to become just a light sprinkle. At times it quit entirely. The clouds broke up and the half moon was out.
Lupe had fun exploring. There no more mishaps the rest of the way to the G6. It got so dark, SPHP had to start using the flashlight before Lupe was even back to Mutt & Jeff Lakes. For hours, Lupe continued to see lightning in the darkness far to the SE. SPHP was tired, but still felt amazingly good. Lupe seemed to feel the same way. Lupe made it back to the G6 back at the Island Lake trailhead at 11:42 PM. It was 50°F.
By 12:30 PM, Lupe and SPHP were back at camp at the Clarks Fork of the Yellowstone River. It looked like it had really rained hard there. SPHP was tempted to sleep in the G6, but Lupe wanted to go in her “tiny house” (tent). So SPHP got rid of the water in the tiny house and put things in order. Sometime around 1:00 AM, Lupe and SPHP sacked out in the tiny house.
At nearly 15.5 hours, this was Lupe and SPHP’s longest day hike in the Beartooths on her 2013 Dingo Vacation, and the most spectacular. It had also been the most dangerous, when Lupe and SPHP got caught in the storm up in High Pass at around 10,800 feet elevation. Sometime it would be fun to explore the high country around Donelson and Maryott Lakes. SPHP was very happy Lupe did get to see Sky Pilot Lake, which was very pretty and remote. The peaks nearby and the gigantic canyon to the NE below Sky Pilot Lake were most impressive too.
A year later, Lupe returned to the Beartooth Mountains as part of her 2014 Dingo Vacation. On 8-3-14 she climbed Lonesome Mountain, which she had passed by this day on the way to Sky Pilot Lake.
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Lonesome Mountain in the Beartooth Mountains of Montana (8-3-14)
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