{"id":1258,"date":"2015-07-27T08:10:42","date_gmt":"2015-07-27T14:10:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/?p=1258"},"modified":"2021-01-19T08:37:34","modified_gmt":"2021-01-19T15:37:34","slug":"the-journey-to-two-bits-lake-beartooth-mountains-7-12-13","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/?p=1258","title":{"rendered":"The Journey to Two Bits Lake, Beartooth Mountains (7-12-13)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Lupe and SPHP first came to explore the Absaroka-Beartooth Mountains of NW Wyoming and S Montana in August, 2012 on Lupe’s first ever big summer Dingo Vacation.\u00a0 Lanis had been along then, too.\u00a0 Lupe and SPHP were completely enthralled\u00a0with these beautiful mountains full of alpine lakes,\u00a0streams and forests,\u00a0and eager to return in 2013.<\/em><\/p>\n

This glorious\u00a0long day hike starts at Island Lake (elevation 9,518 ft.) in NW Wyoming\u00a0and gains less than 1,000 ft., with a high point of around 10,360 ft. on a ridge reached N of Jasper Lake\u00a0shortly before arriving at Two Bits Lake.\u00a0\u00a0Lupe and SPHP found\u00a0no discernable trail the last part of the hike beyond Jasper Lake.\u00a0 The hike\u00a0passes just E of\u00a0Lonesome Mountain, the\u00a0highest peak Lupe has ever climbed to date (6-23-15), although she didn’t climb it until 2014, about a year after making the hike that is the subject of this post.<\/em><\/p>\n

Clicking on this\u00a0blue Lonesome Mountain<\/a><\/strong><\/span> link will take you to the Peakbagger.com page for Lonesome Mountain which\u00a0features a topographic map of this area.\u00a0 Clicking on this\u00a0red Lonesome Mountain<\/a><\/strong><\/span> link will take you to Lupe’s blog post on climbing Lonesome Mountain in 2014.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

The Island Lake trailhead is\u00a0near the Island Lake campground on the N side of Beartooth Highway No. 212 in NW\u00a0Wyoming.\u00a0 (Both use the same access\u00a0road off the highway.)\u00a0 The Island Lake campground is approximately 2 miles E of the Top of the World Store & Motel<\/a><\/span><\/strong> or roughly 15-20 miles E of Hwy 212’s junction with the Chief Joseph Scenic Byway, Hwy 296.\u00a0 Lanis & SPHP purchased topographic maps of the area at the Top of the World Store in 2012.<\/em><\/p>\n

Lupe woke up early on the 3rd day of her 2013 Dingo Vacation to the Beartooths and Canadian Rockies.\u00a0 She and SPHP had spent the night in the G6 due to rain, after having claimed their favorite camping spot on the Clark’s Fork of the Yellowstone<\/strong> River<\/strong><\/a><\/span> the day before.\u00a0 It was early, but already light out.\u00a0 The sky was mostly cloudy, but it was no longer\u00a0raining or even threatening to rain.\u00a0 Lupe and\u00a0SPHP\u00a0got out of the G6 eager to greet the new day in the Beartooths.<\/p>\n

\"Set<\/a>
Set up on the Clark’s Fork of the Yellowstone, July 11, 2013<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Swarms of mosquitoes were eager to\u00a0greet Lupe and SPHP, too.\u00a0 Lupe and SPHP beat a hasty retreat back into the G6. \u00a0Lupe snoozed another 30 minutes while SPHP made journal entries.\u00a0 Eventually a\u00a0squirrel woke\u00a0Lupe\u00a0up and she just had to get out to bark at it.\u00a0 She buried the only “Minties” bone\u00a0SPHP has\u00a0ever given her under a tree near the tent.\u00a0 SPHP resolved to\u00a0retrieve it after checking out the maps for a place to go exploring.<\/p>\n

Back in August, 2012, Lupe, SPHP and Lanis had taken a fabulous hike from the Island Lake trailhead to Beauty\u00a0Lake\u00a0and then\u00a0doubling back to a side trail to\u00a0Becker Lake.\u00a0 SPHP decided exploring the area above tree line beyond Becker Lake would be great fun for Lupe.\u00a0 By 10:00 AM, Lupe was setting out on the trail from Island Lake.\u00a0 Lupe passed by lakes she had first seen with Lanis in 2012 including Island Lake, Night Lake and Flake Lake.\u00a0 Lupe was making great progress along the trail, partly because mosquitoes became a big problem anytime SPHP stopped for even a few moments.<\/p>\n

SPHP was watching for a side trail angling to the right that led to Mutt & Jeff Lakes and then went on to Becker Lake and beyond, and yet somehow missed it.\u00a0 When the trail started\u00a0to curve to the left and rapidly lose elevation, SPHP remembered it was about to descend to Beauty Lake.\u00a0 SPHP realized Lupe had gone too far.\u00a0 Lupe and SPHP turned around and went back in search of the side\u00a0trail to Becker Lake and beyond, and this time found it.\u00a0 Upon reaching Mutt & Jeff Lakes, SPHP knew for certain Lupe was headed in the right direction.<\/p>\n

Mutt & Jeff Lakes are very close together.\u00a0 The trail goes between the two lakes, crossing a broad connecting stream.\u00a0 There is no bridge, but there are quite a few rocks in the stream and stranded bits of grassy or bushy land.\u00a0 SPHP managed to hop across from rock to rock without getting non-waterproof boots too wet.\u00a0 Lupe had no problem leaping from one rock to the next, or\u00a0just wading through enjoying the cold, clear\u00a0water.<\/p>\n

Once across the stream, the trail turns NE and crosses a boulder field that extends right down to the NW shore of Jeff Lake.\u00a0 Past Jeff Lake, the trail heads N up a small headwall and then along the E side of a shallow pond (more boulders here) in a saddle.<\/p>\n

\"Jeff<\/a>
Jeff Lake in the Beartooth Mountains. The trail crosses the boulders at the base of the hill (L) and then goes up around the right side of the hill.\u00a0 Mutt Lake is just to the left of this photo.\u00a0 (Not pictured.)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Mutt<\/a>
Mutt Lake.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Soon after passing the saddle, a portion of the S end of Becker Lake came into view.\u00a0 Lupe followed the trail N through the woods well above the E shore of Becker Lake.\u00a0 Towards the N end of Becker Lake, the trail was out in the open and closer to the lake.<\/p>\n

There were just scattered groups of trees around as Lupe and SPHP left Wyoming N of Becker Lake\u00a0and entered Montana on the way to Albino Lake.\u00a0 The trail stayed on the E side of the stream coming down from Albino Lake to Becker Lake.\u00a0 The last few trees were at Albino Lake (10,000 feet elevation), which is situated just E of Lonesome Mountain.\u00a0 Lupe loved the open ground of the\u00a0high country, although without trees there was the drawback of no more squirrels to bark at.<\/p>\n

\"Part<\/a>
Part of the S end of Becker Lake.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Lupe<\/a>
Lupe near the trail E of Becker Lake.\u00a0 Photo looks N.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Looking<\/a>
Looking S from the trail on the E side of Becker Lake.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"The<\/a>
The stream coming down from Albino Lake on its way to Becker Lake. Photo looks N.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Lonesome<\/a>
Lonesome Mountain<\/a><\/strong><\/span>\u00a0(11,399 ft.)<\/strong><\/span>\u00a0(L) lies just W of Albino Lake. This photo is taken looking NW from the trail near the stream flowing out of Albino Lake.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Albino<\/a>
Albino Lake and Lonesome Mountain. Photo looks WNW.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Looking<\/a>
Looking S back at Becker Lake from a hill S of Albino Lake.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Albino<\/a>
Albino Lake from the hill to the S.\u00a0 Lonesome Mountain at left side of photo.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Lupe<\/a>
Happy Lupe in the Beartooth Mountains S of Albino Lake 7-12-13<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Lupe<\/a>
Lupe on the hill S of Albino Lake.\u00a0 From here Lupe went around the left (W) side of the lake and climbed over the ridge shown on the far side\u00a0of the lake\u00a0at the low point seen at left center.\u00a0 \u00a0Photo looks N.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

At the SE end of Albino Lake, Lupe crossed over the outlet stream (easy rock hopping) to the W.\u00a0 Lupe and SPHP went up on a hill just S of Albino Lake for a look back towards Becker Lake.\u00a0 Then Lupe followed the trail NW above the W shore of Albino Lake up to the next big saddle ridge ahead.\u00a0 From the saddle was Lupe’s first view of Jasper Lake.\u00a0 The area around Jasper Lake was\u00a0completely devoid of\u00a0forest.\u00a0 Rock, heather,\u00a0scattered patches of snow and sky was all there was.\u00a0 Gorgeous high mountain terrain was everywhere.<\/p>\n

\"Jasper<\/a>
Jasper Lake in the Beartooth Mountains.\u00a0 Photo looks N.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Jasper<\/a>
W side of Jasper Lake.\u00a0 Photo looks N.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"The<\/a>
The NE end of Golden Lake visible from the ridge S of Jasper Lake. Photo looks WSW.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Lupe and SPHP were not alone, however.\u00a0 Soon after reaching the saddle\u00a0with a view\u00a0of Jasper Lake, a troop of backpackers came traipsing up the trail from the NW.\u00a0 Lupe ran over\u00a0to greet them, but they soon passed on by.\u00a0 The rest of the afternoon, Lupe and SPHP\u00a0saw no one.\u00a0 After\u00a0a break enjoying the view of Jasper Lake, Lupe and SPHP continued NW on the trail, which went down to the outlet stream from Jasper Lake\u00a0near the SW corner of the lake.\u00a0 This stream had a lot of flow in it.<\/p>\n

\"Lupe<\/a>
Lupe greeted these backpackers, some of the very few people Lupe saw this day. Golden Lake in background.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

SPHP didn’t want to get wet\u00a0feet, so Lupe and SPHP followed the S shore of the stream down all the way to\u00a0Golden Lake,\u00a0which wasn’t far off\u00a0to the\u00a0WSW.\u00a0 There was no place to cross and stay dry anywhere along the way.\u00a0\u00a0There was nothing to be done, except take the plunge.\u00a0 SPHP\u00a0and Lupe forded the stream at the delta where it enters Golden Lake.\u00a0\u00a0 Now on the N side of the stream, Lupe and SPHP headed back up towards the W shore of Jasper Lake.\u00a0 Nearing the lake again, Lupe turned N heading for a ridge.<\/p>\n

\"Stream<\/a>
Stream flowing down from Jasper Lake.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Lupe<\/a>
Lupe near Golden Lake. Photo looks SW.\u00a0 Lonesome Mountain is on the left.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"SPHP's<\/a>
SPHP’s boots got soaked crossing this stream where it enters Golden Lake. Lonesome Mountain on left. Photo looks SW.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Lupe and SPHP gained the top of the ridge NNW of Jasper Lake at a broad shallow saddle.\u00a0\u00a0The saddle\u00a0area and beyond consisted of\u00a0rolling terrain strewn with a mix of\u00a0boulder fields, grassy areas and small shallow lakes.\u00a0 Crossing this ridge, Lupe reached her highest elevation of the day at somewhere between 10,360 and 10,400 feet.\u00a0 Beyond the ridge was Two Bits Lake.\u00a0 Lupe spotted a snow drift and ran down to cool off in it not far from the lake.<\/p>\n

\"Looking<\/a>
Looking back at Lonesome Mountain from the N on the way to the ridge NNW of Jasper Lake.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Looking<\/a>
Looking back to the SE at Jasper Lake.\u00a0 The ridge Lupe came over from Albino Lake is on the right side of the photo.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Largest<\/a>
Largest of the unnamed lakes in the saddle area NNW of Jasper Lake.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Lupe<\/a>
Lupe on her snowbank near Two Bits Lake. Photo looks NNW.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Just S of Two Bits Lake, Lupe and SPHP stopped for a break.\u00a0 Lupe chowed down on some Taste of the Wild.\u00a0 SPHP celebrated success with a Coke.\u00a0 After the break, Lupe and SPHP explored among the rocks above the S shore of Two Bits Lake.<\/p>\n

Consulting the topo maps, SPHP really wanted to climb another ridge NW of Two Bits Lake and then turn N to find High Pass with the ultimate goal of reaching Sky Pilot Lake.\u00a0 However, the day was wearing on and it was a long way back to the G6.\u00a0 It was too late in the day to try it.\u00a0 If Lupe was ever going to reach Sky Pilot Lake, she would have to come back to Island Lake and start all over again earlier in the day.<\/p>\n

\"Two<\/a>
Two Bits Lake, Beartooth Mountains 7-12-13. Photo looks NNW.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Lupe<\/a>
Lupe takes a break SSE of Two Bits Lake.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Lupe<\/a>
Lupe S of Two Bits Lake<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"W<\/a>
W side of Two Bits Lake. Photo looks N.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

After suitable time spent admiring pretty Two Bits Lake, Lupe and SPHP followed a rock ridge SW from the lake.\u00a0 Just to the NW was the outlet stream from Two Bits Lake running down to Triskele Lake.\u00a0\u00a0When Lupe reached\u00a0Triskele Lake it was time to turn back.\u00a0 Lupe headed back up to the saddle area on the ridge NNW of Jasper Lake.\u00a0 The view of Lonesome Mountain and Jasper Lake was just awesome.\u00a0\u00a0Lupe saw a bald\u00a0eagle fly over Jasper Lake heading E.<\/p>\n

\"SPHP<\/a>
SPHP thought about climbing this ridge to look for High Pass and Sky Pilot Lake, but it was too late in the day to be advisable. Photo looks NW and shows SW corner of Two Bits Lake.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Looking<\/a>
Looking SW down the stream from Two Bits Lake on its way to Triskele Lake.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Triskele<\/a>
Triskele Lake in the Beartooth Mountains from the NE.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"SPHP's<\/a>
SPHP’s favorite photo of Lupe and Lonesome Mountain. Photo was taken looking S from NNW of Jasper Lake. Lonesome Mountain is much more impressive from this angle than from along the trail to the E or S of the mountain.\u00a0 A portion of Golden Lake is seen at center right.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

SPHP wanted to go around the E side of Jasper Lake to avoid having to ford the big outlet stream again.\u00a0 On the NE side of Jasper Lake, Lupe found\u00a0a big\u00a0feather near a little stream.\u00a0 Perhaps it was from the bald eagle?\u00a0 That was pretty cool!\u00a0 There were lots of streams coming into Jasper Lake from the E, but since they were smaller, SPHP managed to stay mostly dry getting across them.\u00a0\u00a0 Eventually Lupe and SPHP reached the ridge to the S of Jasper Lake and found the trail again.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The eagle feather is seen just to the left of Lupe. Photo taken NE of Jasper Lake.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Lonesome<\/a>
Lonesome Mountain across Jasper Lake from “Eagle Feather Creek”.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Jasper<\/a>
Jasper Lake & Lonesome Mountain, 7-12-13<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"A<\/a>
A last look back N at Jasper Lake.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The rest of the evening was spent retracing the trail back to the G6.\u00a0 Lupe and SPHP had seen very few people all day, but on the way back SPHP did stop to talk to a fisherman on the\u00a0W side of Albino Lake.\u00a0 He was catching mostly\u00a08-12″ cutthroat trout, but said he had caught a couple of 18-20″ cutthroats up at Golden and Jasper Lakes.\u00a0 The fisherman was from Pennsylvania.\u00a0 He claimed to have seen a white wolf.<\/p>\n

Lupe reached the G6 again at 11:28 PM.\u00a0 Lupe had been\u00a0sniffing and\u00a0exploring for\u00a013.5 glorious hours! \u00a0By now, though, both Lupe and SPHP were about totally played out.\u00a0 The weary\u00a0dingo\u00a0hopped into the G6 and curled up for\u00a0a snooze.\u00a0 SPHP drove back to the\u00a0campsite at the Clark’s Fork of the Yellowstone River.\u00a0\u00a0 Arriving well after midnight, SPHP was just too\u00a0tired to set things up in the tent.\u00a0 SPHP covered Lupe with a blanket.\u00a0\u00a0Another night was spent in the G6.\u00a0\u00a0The next morning,\u00a0a bleary-eyed dingo was still curled up, happily snuggled in\u00a0the blanket.<\/p>\n

\"Carolina<\/a>
Carolina Dog catches 40 winks. More adventuring lies ahead!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Although Lupe did not get as far as Sky Pilot Lake this time, 3 days later she returned and did find it.\u00a0 Click on this Sky Pilot Lake<\/a><\/strong><\/span> link to see her post on that adventure!<\/em><\/p>\n

Links:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Next Adventure<\/span><\/a> \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Prior Adventure<\/span><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Castle Mountain, the Carbon County Montana High Point with Mountaineer Jobe Wymore – Part 1: Island Lake to Two Bits Lake (8-7-20)<\/strong><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

Want more Lupe adventures?\u00a0\u00a0Choose\u00a0from\u00a0Lupe’s 2013 Beartooths & Canadian Rockies Adventure Index<\/a><\/strong><\/span>,\u00a0Dingo Vacations Adventure Index<\/a><\/strong><\/span> or Master Adventure Index<\/a><\/strong><\/span>.\u00a0\u00a0Or subscribe free\u00a0to\u00a0new Lupe adventures<\/span><\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/em><\/span>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Lupe and SPHP first came to explore the Absaroka-Beartooth Mountains of NW Wyoming and S Montana in August, 2012 on Lupe’s first ever big summer Dingo Vacation.\u00a0 Lanis had been along then, too.\u00a0 Lupe and SPHP were completely enthralled\u00a0with these beautiful mountains full of alpine lakes,\u00a0streams and forests,\u00a0and eager to return in 2013. This glorious\u00a0long … Continue reading The Journey to Two Bits Lake, Beartooth Mountains (7-12-13)<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1195,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[76],"tags":[196,105,182,195,106,26,193,197,181,104,417,194,199,198],"class_list":["post-1258","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-2013-beartoothscanadian-rockies","tag-albino-lake","tag-american-dingo","tag-beartooth-mountains","tag-becker-lake","tag-carolina-dog","tag-dingo-vacations","tag-island-lake","tag-jasper-lake","tag-lonesome-mountain","tag-lupe","tag-montana","tag-mutt-jeff-lakes","tag-triskele-lake","tag-two-bits-lake"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/adventuresoflupe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/P1040896.jpg?fit=1651%2C1238&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1258","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1258"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1258\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31337,"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1258\/revisions\/31337"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1195"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1258"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1258"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1258"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}