This is Randy's official story of the second hike from Bear Lake to Grand Lake
Bear lake to grand lake
Guys,
It
was a great hike, the best.
I
stepped off at 6:00 Saturday. The 4.4 mi to flattop was easier
without snow, snowshoes, or wind blown snow. But it was still a
pretty good hike, and it was cold. I was glad I had my blue hat
and some light gloves. About 2/3 of the way up I was running
out of gas so I took some of the famous “Kick Start”. Not
long after that I stopped to rest, still one good push from the top
and you will never guess what is saw, well maybe Doug would guess.
Yip, it was a blue bird, electric blue, just dancing and flitting
around like it was encouraging me on up to the top. I got
to the top and never saw it again. (Doug, tell Marti thanks for
the encouragement).
Bear lake to grand lake
As
I hiked up I felt something in my pocket. I had a stone from
Nepal. It had been through the wash twice and I hadn’t
noticed on our hike to Bridal Veil Falls. So, somewhere near the top
of flattop, I put my stone from the Himalayas on a cairn along the
trail. It seemed right.
Bear lake to grand lake
The
way down was pretty much like I remembered, including the stinking
snowfields covering the trail. I went across one by stomping my
foot into the ice to get a foot hold. About halfway across it
though how stupid that was. Balancing on one foot on the ice while I
stomped the other into inconsistent snow/ice. You may remember
I left my poles in Nepal, so I had nothing to hold on to. The
slide down the snow would have been bad and I was all alone. So
I got to the next snow field and looked around and there was a path
around it. Obviously other hikers were not as stupid as me.
So I climbed some rocks and went around the snow.
I
only saw two hikers that passed me on the way up to Flattop.
Talked to them a little near the top, but didn’t see another soul
until I was passed the big rock where we had lunch. I stopped for
lunch before the big rock, but still hit the rock by 12:00
I
took the Michael fork in the trail and hiked past the falls. It
was really pretty. Except for that one couple, this was where I
started to see other hikers. I got to Grand Lake at 3:00.
The sign at the trail head said 17.3 miles to Bear Lake. 9
hours 18 miles, not bad.
Bear lake to grand lake
I
had turned my ankle pretty good with about four miles left and I had
some nasty blisters. I couldn’t understand the blisters. I
was wearing the same socks and boots I wore in Nepal and I never got
a hint of a blister. I had laced my boots up good and snug a
couple of times and so I didn’t expect to get blisters. The
only thing I can guess is that the trail from the big rock down is
about 8 mi of gentle downhill slope. Something we never saw in
Nepal. When I got to my hotel room I was kind of worried about
the ankle and I put some ice on it and took some aspirin (its good to
be a doctor).
Stopped
at the same store where we bought dinner last time. Got too
much food, went back to the room, ate, iced my foot, took a shower
and went to bed.
The
next morning I was about as stiff and sore as the last time we hiked
to Grand Lake. After the first couple of miles and a few more
aspirin, I was fine. My stomach was acting a little goofy so I
decided not to risk a big breakfast. I had mixed some powdered
Energy drink with some creatine/protein drink (later I added some
Kick Start), so I had a big dose of that and 4 cans of Dr. Pepper.
Toss in a power bar and that was about it.
I
took off on the Tonahutu trail at about 7:30. The sign there
said 19.5 miles to Grand Lake. I was right about the Tonahutu
trail being a little longer and a gentler grade. It was just
right for my tired legs. The first several miles were easy and
I did a lot of stretching as my legs warmed up. The other big
difference from the North Inlet Trail is the big meadow. It is big.
(and has a lot of mosquitoes)
Bear lake to grand lake
As
you cross the last creek and head up onto the plateau, there was a
plaque warning of white out conditions (winter and summer), trails
that pass next to cliffs and glaciers and the danger of walking off
the edge in the mist. I didn’t think much of it at the time, but as
I approached the edge of the plateau I saw cloud blowing over the
edge. I thought it was odd since we are used to weather blowing
east to west and I was on the east side of the slope. But sure
enough, I put on my rain coat, gloves and walked right up into the
clouds. Couldn’t see more than 20 ft. It was mystical
(or mist-ical) I proceeded by hiking to a rock cairn, looking
down the trail to the next pile of rocks or as far as I could clearly
see on the trail and making a mental picture of that spot. Then
looking straight down at the trail I would hike to that spot, and do
it again.
I
started picking up a rock to add to each cairn as thanks for the help
along the trail. I had seen a lot of deer, elk and mountain goat
sign, but not a single animal. At each stop I began to look for
animals. At one spot is saw a huge marmot, at another I heard
and then saw a ptarmigan that cooed and bobbed and walked into the
mist. The wind blew back the mist and I saw an elk standing on
the ridge. She walked over the ridge but she stopped where her
head was just high enough to see me and she watched me walk on.
Later I looked up and saw three elk just ten fee away in the mist.
Later as I started down and was headed out of the mist I looked over
and saw two bucks with felt on their antlers sitting 15 feet from the
trail. They just sat there as I walked by. To each of them, I said,
“Namaste”.
On
the entire way back I only saw one fisherman on the trail, until I
got to the peak of Flattop. From there down I saw 6 people.
That last 4.4 miles seemed like a long long long, stretch. I
had to be careful not to get sloppy about where I placed my feet,
just to easy to take a tumble or sprain an ankle and I was still to
far from my truck to want to limp in. I got to my truck at
4:30. Almost 20 miles, in 9 hours and one hungry, tired, happy
hiker.
Bear lake to grand lake
This
morning, I’m a little sore, but not too bad.
Namaste
