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| Hiking | 8.70 Miles |
1,913 AEG |
| | Hiking | 8.70 Miles | 7 Hrs 19 Mns | | 1.34 mph |
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| 1,913 ft AEG | 49 Mns Break | | |
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| no partners | | Started from the Moose Lake trailhead a little before 1000 and headed up Moose Creek trail. After about half a mile, we turned onto Blacktail Lake Trail and headed south. Kind of neat that all the stream and water crossings had bridges, but with all the snowmelt, we were still walking through mud on the trail.
Easy uphill on Blacktail, with nice scenery. Some deadfall, but with one tough exception, all were easy to get around. At the next intersection, we decided to add on going all the way to Blacktail Lake instead of just doing the loop.
Gradual downhill the 3/4 mile to the lake. Very pretty lake, surrounded by snowy mountains. Looked like several nice areas to camp too. After a few minutes at the lake, we headed back uphill to the turnoff to Moose Mtn.
Once on the trail up to Moose Mtn, the climb started to get steeper, with more snow to hike through. The was a steep switchback, then we were on the ridge leading up to the summit. We were able to stay off most of the snow as we climbed the ridge. Views from the summit were spectacular, and we took a nice break up there.
After the summit, we headed east and down the other side of the ridge. A little more snow, but nothing terrible until we turned off the ridge and started to head down the inside of the bowl to Moose Lake. Very steep, and lots of snow. After getting past the first snow obstacle, I was hoping it would get better. It did not. At the next steep snow covered spot, I suggested turning around and going back over Moose Mtn to retrace our steps back out. It would have been an extra mile or two, but would have been a lot easier. However, I was outvoted; everyone else wanted to head down to Moose Lake for the shorter way out. I warned everyone that if we headed any further downhill, we would not be able to get back up through the snow if we changed our minds.
Trying to get through the snow, I put myself below the kids and had them cross above me. My daughter made it across a sketchy section okay, but my son slid. Amazingly, I caught him with one hand and was able to pull him back up. I’m sure my arm will feel that tomorrow. Not that it mattered too much, he would only have slid less than ten feet below me before being stopped by trees, but he would not have liked that. Once everyone else got through, we managed to slowly get through the rest of the snow by holding on to trees as I kicked footholds in the snow. It was slow, but we made it, and stayed fairly close to the actual trail.
Once through the steepest section, walking through the snow wasn’t too bad, but there was a lot of running water and walking through muck. But at least we weren’t sliding downhill. We stopped for another break at Moose Lake, which also looks like a nice place to camp. From the lake, it was an easy, but muddy, two miles down to the car. Those two miles went by quickly.
Other than that rough mile of snow, this was a great hike. Views were amazing, and the trail was nice. It would probably be best as a late summer hike. Didn’t see anyone else all day, but there were cars at the trailhead. |
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