Eagle Scout Assault - Mt. Ross (elev. 9,004')

Trailhead: Brackett Creek, Gallatin NF, Bridger range.
Total Distance: +/- 6 miles
Elevation Chg: +4000 / -4000
% Bushwacking/Trail/Scramble: 30/50/20

Our hike started a tad sluggish as everybody had imbibed a la maxima Friday night. Me, I drank some dank Montana beers at MAW (Bozone Cascadia Dark IPA, Bitteroot Huckleberry Wheat, etc.), and the younger of us Doug and Josh drank a heady stew of homemade jungle juice consisting of tequila, vodka, cheap light beers, the kitchen sink, dirty gym socks, etc.

It was slow going.



We were looking for the Fairy Lakes campground/ trailhead, but instead turned off the road early and immediately toned down our visions of hiking the entire 20 mile ridge back to "The M" near Bozeman. Instead we veered off trail and headed cross country toward a nice grassy saddle below Mt. Ross, then scrambled up its face. After three false peaks, we made it up to glorious views of Gallatin valley and the patchwork of agriculture nestles in its verdant bosom. The sky was gaining activity, the dance had begun, and we felt rumblings and darkness as we descended down down the eastern face in search of water and a camping spot.

We were pooped. Like "did-I-just-twist-my-ankle-I-don't-care-no-I-don't-think-I-did-my-hand's-bleeding-ok-I'll-just-wipe-it-on-my-leg" pooped.

We all cooked dinner using small cedar twiglets, each in our own stove setup. Doug had a homemade little double-walled woodstove made out of various food cans. I used my titanium caldera cone, with great success. I think Doug needs to jimmy his design a bit as his stove was consistently starved of air and therefore took a lot longer to boil his water. I give him credit though for making things himself, and would probably have done the same as a budget constrained college student if I knew as much as he did at that age. They both slept under a homemade sil-nylon cat-tarp (The Purple Peopleater) which held up against the gusts and precipitation with only one collapse early in the night due to user error. My Contrail held up, albeit one stake came undone and moistened my cabesa. The Rockies demand you batten down the hatches all the time - the weather just changes too quickly. Luckily, as we were heading to bed the sky cleared and the stars just popped, like a golf course for the Gods I thought. It was my first solid glimpse of the Montana stars outside city lights since moving to Bozeman, and served as another reminder of why I get out and camp.

Overall, a solid one-nighter with two solid kids. Both Josh (freshman) and Doug (sophomore) are Eagle Scouts that grew up together in a Seattle suburb and have had excellent backcountry access their whole lives. Of course I was jealous, they've covered so much of Washington (Olympic Peninsula, Cascades, etc.) already. I thin we all learned a bit from each other, which is the benefit of traveling with the light'n'fast crowd. We'll do it again.

Brackett Creek trailhead is 16 miles from Bozeman.

Talkeetna Mts Adventure: Gear & Methodology

Things I wish I had taken with me:

1. Water-proof/breathable oversocks. These are calf-high socks that go over your regular socks, but also fit inside my trailrunning shoes. They would have been perfect for crossing icy streams, and prevented my feet from becoming numb on day 2 in the tundra, where we stepped in some cold bogs and crossed streams. As a workaround I used my waterproof paddling pants (Kokatat Semi-Dry) -- with the socks, these kept my feet much warmer but are not fit for bushwacking as the durable water repellent (DWR) coating wears away quickly in the face of brush.
2. An extra pair of dry socks. Minimal weight, would have given me a 'second chance' to get my outfit together instead of completely soaking my hiking pair -- with no chance of drying -- and having to use my other pair originally for sleeping only, to hike.
3. Better bushwacking pants. Bushwacking in Alaska required me to rethink how I dressed. I started off the first day in Ex-Officio bug-repellant travel pants, which absorbed water and were uncomfortable. They provided a bit of brush repellancy though, so I couldn't have gotten away with shorts. Several in the group wore Arc'teryx Palisade pants, which they raved about. I will have to check these out.
4. Lightweight gloves or mittens. I also would love a cozy for my titanium cooking mug so I can grab it right off the stove and transfer heat to my perennially cold hands. I think a pair of hand coverings would solve both. I am experimenting with fashioning some burned DeFeet socks into mitts.
5. Event-bottomed dry sacks. Allows you to squeeze more air out of the bag, reducing bulk.
6. A Heavier-duty backpack. I love my 72 liter GoLite Pinnacle, but I think it was overburdened with my 45 lb. pack for this trip and will probably use it only for trips of sub 35 lbs. in the future. I felt like I was going to rip the armstraps everytime I lifted it to put it on my back. Luckily, that never happened.
7. A 4 or 5 piece paddle. Bushwacking through the alders with two paddles sticking out of my pack was a nightmare. Every time I would step through an opening in the thicket I would get whip-sawed back when the branch caught on my paddle, then I'd have to negotiate a back-bend yoga move to get under and through. Having a more collapsible paddle would solve this.
8. More map coverage. My map didn't cover much of the 'escape route' along the train tracks, so planning an B option wasn't easy because I didn't include much unnecessary space on my custom topo maps. For a trip with a given level of uncertainty, this is a good idea.

Crocodile High Lakes Circuit - 14 alpine lakes, 25 miles

Fellow blogger, adventurer-badass, and one of my best friends on this wet spinning planet Matt Pray rolled into town on Friday midday with his red Honda Accord, grinning like the vagabond he is (rrrrooOOAAADDD Trip!). So we decided to go on a hike into the Lee Metcalf Wilderness area, Gallatin National Forest, Spanish Creek trailhead. You know, to stretch the legs a bit and checkout each other's backpacking gear. And take a bite out of the playground nearby -- exactly 43 minutes drive from my new place in Bozeman, MT. It was a 'local' hike...

Miles: 25

Days: 2 (12 hours hiking = 2.1 mph)

% Hike/Float: 100/0

Elevation Chg: +4000, -4000 (loop)

OOO-AAAH Factor: 7

Route description: Starting at Spanish Creek trailhead (west of Rt. 191), we hiked a half mile past Mirror Lake then began our bushwack-scramble up over the ridge, through a spot we coined 'Crocodile Pass' because it looked like an agape crocodile when the western sun shone behind it. Down the other side to Beehive lake, and onto the rest of the loop north -- through Spanish Lakes, Lake Solitude, Upper Falls Creek Lake, Jerome Rock Lakes (14 in total!), and some tasty pine forests, ranchland, and general Rocky Mountain High beautaciousness.

Conditions: Partly cloudy, some light rain showers, and 40-50mph wind gusts throughout the night. Our Tarptent Contrails ate the wind FOR BREAKFAST. They held together well, albeit very noisily, and made it altogether hard to sleep with Zephyr all up in our business. I told Matt to look for me at the bottom of the cliff, blown into the lake if my tent and I were gone the next morning. True story..

The map below shows the loop in all its glory:


View Crocodile High Lakes Circuit in a larger map