Day 5 - Hike Day 1 - Trail Head to Lake Kathleen

Today is the day!  We were up early, made final additions to our packs, and prepared to leave Dana's house for the trail head.  The first thing we did was say goodbye to our wonderful hosts and took a picture (dogs included)!

After leaving Dana's we drove to Livingston to buy the last few items we needed, most important were four cans of bear spray and fishing licenses.  We then drove to Big Timber took State Highway 298 south to the Main Boulder Road (following the Boulder River) which is also known at National Forest Development Road 6639.  Along these roads the scenery was beautiful with rugged mountains and snow still visible on July 21st.

One thing that was fun to watch was a cattle drive down the highway. 

That doesn't happen too often back home.

Our trail head parking area was located at 45°16'24.56"N, 110°15'1.06"W.  Here we unloaded our gear and prepared for the adventure we had dreamed about for so long! 

Below is a map of our trail over a satelite image of the area.

This is how Aaron and Larry looked BEFORE hitting the trail....

From the parking area we found our trail head and began our hike to Lake Kathleen. 

Sometimes the trail was nice.

Sometimes the trail was blocked and could use a chainsaw!

Not long into our hike there was a group on horses who passed us, so we cleared the trail to let them pass.  We noticed that the leader was wearing a six-shooter and had a couple of dogs apparently as bear bait.

The trail head started at 6600 feet of elevation, so a lot of our hiking was up, up, up!

It was amazing the contrast between trees with mulch soil and the large boulders that were everywhere.

Rest breaks were a welcomed opportunity on the trail to either catch your breath, stretch your back, contemplate the scenery, or goof off a bit.

Here is Tommy....

and Eli...

and Aaron....

and Lucas & Barry....

and Trent....

and Trent & Matt....

and Urvish....

and Tim & John....

and Larry & Aaron....

and Tim, Trent & Matt.

One of the landmarks we were looking for was a foot bridge over the river we were paralleling.  This was a really nice bridge that was well made and well maintained.  Unfortunately, we didn't enjoy bridges after this first day.

Along the trail we found quite a bit of bear scat and claw marks on the trees, which gave us caution to keep an eye out for bears, but thankfully we never saw any in spite of all the signs.

Sometimes the trail was quite muddy from small creeks cutting across the trail.

With all of the heavy snow pack this year, the small brooks were swollen and the placed stepping stones were underwater.

Eventually, we made it to beautiful Lake Kathleen, which was a small lake in front of a large cliff.

 45°14'22.48"N  110°11'20.43"W

Upon arrival, we set up our campsite.

Then with evening approaching we prepared supper a couple hundred yards from camp and had a nice spaghetti meal.

The first of many dehydrated meals.

After supper we had to hang our bear bags, which was quite a challenge with only pine trees available.  Below is a video showing how we actually did it (in the dark).

And now for another daily update, here's Larry!