This August I was fortunate enough to be invited along on the famous Beartooth adventure. The Beartooth Wilderness spans across the upper portion of Yellowstone National Park (just outside the park) in Montana. My good friend Alan and his college buddies have been doing a trek in the Beartooth Wilderness for the past 30 years. I may be a late comer, but I had just as much fun. This year's 10 day trip started in Cook City, Montana, at the Lady of the Lake trailhead. We would travel north and then west and exit via the West Rosebud trailhead. Most of it was off trail in seldom visited high country. Below are some day-by-day shots of our adventure.
Day one - Lady of the Lake trailhead to Lower Aero Lake
Day one - Lady of the Lake trailhead to Lower Aero Lake
From left to right, Dave, Jon, Alan, Jeff & me - all of us still clean and smelling fresh.
Lady of the Lake
Lost already??
Not sure what this is...
In about 6 miles, we reach lower Aero lake and look for a camp site.
Jon (the chef) sorts the cooking gear
Alan strikes a familiar pose while Jeff (below) delves into his book.
After an amazing thunder storm, the clouds clear off for some great evening pics at the lake.
Day 2 - Rest day and the trek up to Upper Aero for fishing.
Very recent bear prints in the snow at Upper Aero, but never saw the beast.
Dave tries his luck, but quickly retires (below) since they just weren't biting. All the fish were in Lower Aero where Alan and I caught about a dozen.
Back at Lower Aero, Alan shows off a 15 incher.
Day 3 - Headed out for Grasshopper glacier and down to Grasshopper lakes.
Time to lower the packs and down climb a short cliff.
Mount Zimmer, Zimmer Lake and Iceberg Peak in the distance. Our col is at the far right of the frame.
Down climbing through loose rock and ice of Grasshopper glacier.
Grasshopper lake and our camp across the lake for the evening.
Day 4 - Grasshopper lake to Kid Lake
Jon surveys the cliffs ahead while Alan and Dave review the map to find a way around.
Lunch in the meadow with a short pull on the bottle.
Looking down at Wolf Lake
Outlet of Knott Lake in route to Kid lake
Camped in the meadow at Kid lake.
Day 5 - We had a rest day here and just.... rested.
Groucho, Harpo, Zeppo and Karl
Day 6 - Kid lake down to Silver lake - lots of bush whacking, no pictures until down to the river.
Camp at Silver lake. We saw people again for the first time.
I also saw another side of Alan
Day 7 - up to Beckwourth lake.
Trying our luck in Nugget lake.
Not much to catch in Nugget, so we went back to Beckwourth and caught dinner, see below.
Sunrise shots at Beckwourth.
Day 8 - Day trip up to Nemidji (above) and Weeluna (below).
Back down at Beckwourth with a storm brewing and a nice fire for warmth.
A series of sunrise shots at Beckwourth lake.
Day 9 - Back down to Silver lake, taking a break before heading on to Island lake for the night.
Morning mist on Island lake
Mystic lake dam and the end of our adventure.
