28 July 2017, 20:00
Location: Kidney Lakes - N40.79780° W109.228814°
Elevation: 10835'
Ascent: 1956' (Total: 9345')
Descent: 2111' (Total: 6700')
Day Distance: 13.28 miles (Total: 60.62 miles)
What a Day! Started out really nice. Clear skies, cool temperature (48° F). Got packed and hit the trail about 08:30. From camp near Reeder Lakes it was essentially all up hill towards North Pole Pass, and a fairly steep uphill. The only real downhill was just before the pass. Camp was at 10980' and the plan for the day was to cross North Pole Pass at 12,200' and enter the wilderness area, and camp near Kidney Lakes. The trail climbs to a shoulder where a trail down to Taylor Lake forks off. There is a sign post at the fork, but no sign on the post. The trail then descends a couple of hundred feet before beginning a serious climb to the pass. I had to stop at the base of the pass to treat a hot spot on my left foot. After doctoring the foot I began climbing. There were dozens of switch backs. I must of crossed the same stream 10 times. At times the water ran down the trail for dozens of yards. The trail was extremely rocky and I was able to step from stone to stone to keep my feet dry, but the going was slow. As I was climbing the pass the sky started to darken. So while I wanted to stop for water, I felt it best to keep going and get over the pass and down off the high ground before the storm moved in. Once over the pass the west side was steeper than the eastern side that I had just climbed. I kept crossing small streams, or maybe the same stream. There were so many switch backs I lost count. After getting off the high ground I stopped at one of the streams where it came out of the mountain and got water. It was clear and really cold, and while I filtered it, (I always filter), I am not sure it was really necessary since it was taken right at the spring.
All those streams combined into a larger stream that I kept crossing. Some of the crossings were wide and it took some 'skill' to cross without getting wet. The trail then deviated from the USGS 7.5' maps by passing Brook Lake. In fact it deviated twice. The second time it cut a big loop out, so I am not really complaining. As the trail headed to Fox Lake I kept seeing fresh horse sign, and at Fox Lake there was a camp with four horses and a mule. I didn't see anyone at the camp, but it was raining at the time. As I got past the camp I heard voices and saw three people out on the dam headed my direction. The sky had just opened up, just prior to my reaching the camp, so I was not watching the people on the dam closely and they were several hundred yards away. Not far after the horse camp, I came upon three tents, I could hear voices in the tents, but with the heavy rain, no one was out. I suspect that the people I saw on the dam where the inhabitants of the tents, since I never encountered anyone else the rest of the day.
At the dam there is an old cabin/shack. No roof, and a door about four feet tall. Not sure what purpose it served.
After about an hour on the trail, the rain stopped and after I had divested myself of rain gear, the trail continued across a large open area, all the while with large and frequent puddles. Near Dime Lake I had a really nasty stream crossing. About 30 yards from the stream, the trail went through a bog with no way around. The oily/slime water/mud of the bog was about mid-calf. The stream was also about mid-calf with no way to cross, except to wade. Which actually worked out, since I needed to wash the bog off. Off came the shoes, prior to crossing the bog, and on went the sandals. Through the bog and stream I went. I stopped in the stream to wash of the mud and slime of the bog. On the far side of the stream, I noticed that the tape on my right foot was gone. So I took the time to re-tape my little toe that had a pretty raw open blister. That open raw blister is really the only major issue that I have on my feet. I have taped several hot spots before blisters formed and they are doing well. I now worry about that open sore, especially after what I had just walked through.
As I got to Kidney Lakes I kept looking for a trail to turn off to the lakes. I never did find one, so as the trail seemed to turn away from the lakes, I went cross country. I headed right to the SE lake, but I didn't really find a good place to camp. So I crossed a major stream coming out of the lake on a bunch of downed trees. On the far side I ran into some horse tracks which I followed to the other lake. The tracks just kept going, so I picked a nice spot and set up camp between the two lakes. Prepared dinner, made my call to Shelly, and got ready for bed. Just as I was ready, the skies opened up, thunder, heavy rain and some wind. It has now been ring for over an hour, and I putting all this away.
Just a note: When I call Shelly, I give here my GPS coordinates, and my plans for the next day. If I decide to deviate from those plans, I call her and let her know my new plans. Since I am solo, this is my way of making sure my last known position is known, and my plans.
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