Tronsolo Dot Com: Trent, We're Not At Pilot Mountain Anymore

Once again, I woke up to a cold morning and it was still awesome. I forgot how much fun it was to camp. I think what I like best are the sounds...the random zipper, a cough, a muted conversation, a pot clanking. All of this, of course, amongst the silence. Anyway, I wanted to get going early because I had to get out of Yellowstone and get to the Grand Tetons. Packing up and leaving pretty early, I was able to see more of that wildlife I kept hearing so much about. Not to mention just awesome sights along the Yellowstone River. Follow the steam along the river.

And then I came across a couple of bison making their way across the road. After a slight delay, they moved off and I was able to get this pic as I drove past. I still chuckle to myself every time I see it. The best part is I really didn't line it up or anything. Remember, although I was going pretty slow, I was still driving when I took it. I consider it a lucky shot.

Being out of cell service for the better part of two days (and having a rather large coffee from the gas station), I wanted to/had to stop to take care of a couple of things. So I came across a bathroom at a little picnic area and took care of that. Then I called some folks and let them know that I was still on the planet. After about 45 minutes of conversation, I had to revisit the bathroom before I headed out. I'm sure you're wondering where I'm going with this so here's my point. The second time out of the bathroom, I opened the door to see a bison about 15 feet straight in front of me. After a slight freakout, I made it back to the car to get this pic.

That's the bathroom awning on the left and the bison in the middle. That stupid car pulled up when I was "going" and it may have startled the bison back a little. I guess I should've said thanks.

So after a short 2 or so hour drive (remember, it's all relative) to the Tetons, I actually didn't have a place to lay my head that night. I went to one of the smaller campgrounds hoping I could find a spot. Turned out they had an area for hikers and bikers (of which I was neither) but the lady let me pay the meager $7 as long as I parked my car at the nearby visitor's center. No problem. I set up the tent and then had to make a decision. See, before this trip, I did a lot of map studying (thanks to Google Earth) and reading on the national park's websites about trails and such that I should try. There was one that was about 5 miles up one of the Tetons to a couple of hidden lakes called Surprise Lake and Amphitheater Lake. Before my trip, I wanted to try out my gear and test my conditioning by hiking up and around Pilot Mountain here in North Carolina. There was a trail that was about 4 miles round trip up and back down the mountain and it was not difficult at all but I knew this day's hike would be different.

Anyway, my decision was to either bag the hike and find something else to do or suck it up and make the trek. It was about noon and I knew that 10 miles up and down a mountain would take about 5-6 hours. Still uncertain, I wanted to check out one of the possible activities which involved taking a ferry across Jenny Lake and hiking over there. But taking one look at the masses assembled at the ferry (and with me having a serious bout with introversion), I made the decision to take the trail less traveled.

Here's a picture of the map and trail I was about to take - my trail is the one with all the zigzags (which usually means switchbacks which usually mean elevation change).

Here's a couple of pics of me on my way. It's hard to tell from the shots that the trail is going up and up but trust me, it was. In fact, I actually counted 14 steps that were downhill on the way up so yes, it went up and up (and then up some more). You can also tell the slope of the mountain from left to right.

This hike was rough. It was probably one of the hardest things I've done in a while. But somewhere along the way, it got a little scary too. Yes, I was hiking by myself but there were plenty of folks coming down the mountain from a morning ascent so I never really felt alone. Anyway, at this one particular time, I found myself alone and then a heard something exhale...something big. I stopped dead in my tracks. Usually, that's just an expression. In my case, it was an actuality. Turns out just over the small ridge next to the trail was a black bear about 20 feet from me. You know, they tell you to make noise while you're hiking by yourself so you don't startle a bear but they don't tell you what to do when you're so close you can smell it. Do I make noise and announce my presence or do I silently creep away and hope it doesn't have a cub with it? I decided on the latter and creeped away about another 20 feet. Then I noticed a girl walking up the trail by herself. Keeping with my mode of silence, I made the motion for "you better stop walking, there's a bear right there." Somehow, she didn't understand my random arm motions. So as she approached, she asked, "Hey, what's going on?" I slowly and softly said, "There's a bear right there." And her response was classic..."Oh, let me get my camera." Huh?? Pause for a moment.

Bear with me for a second (pun intended), I think everyone knows that I'm a fairly big movie guy so let me describe the tone of my response. Remember Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom? Sort of near the beginning when Indy and Shortround were trapped in that room with the ceiling coming down and all the spikes? And Willie had to wade through all the bugs and stuff to get to them to pull the handle to unlock the door? Do you remember what Indy said to her when she was hesitating? Well, that's the tone of my response:

We...have got to go...now!

In hindsight, the bear didn't really seem to care that we were there or not. But when you realize you're not at a zoo and there's no wall or fence separating you from at least *cough* a bad day, it can be a bit scary. Plus, before I left, I happened to watch a documentary about a guy that was attacked by a bear. Yeah, that didn't help things. Anyway, all was well and I continued on. Let me tell you though, the trail got rather rocky the higher I went and when you have to think about where you put your foot with every step, not to mention the steep slope and the high elevation, it can be exhausting. In fact, there was one point where I would count out 150 steps and then stop for a few seconds then do it again.

But fear not, I made it to the lakes. Actually, I made it to the first one, sat for a while, enjoyed the view, took plenty of pictures and then started heading back because I was dead tired and couldn't go higher. After about 5 minutes (and I took a picture of the exact spot), it was eating at me that I didn't make it to the top lake so I turned around and went back up past where I was at Surprise Lake and continued on to Amphitheater. I'm so glad I did. That would've bothered me if I didn't see that higher lake. I'll shut up now and show you some of the pictures. First, check out this one with the ice in the rocks (in August).

Here's Surprise Lake - elevation 9540. And keep in mind, most of the pictures I took up at these lakes are intended to be put together for a larger panorama. Still working to get those completed but at least you get the idea from the ones below. I'm not sure if you can tell but that water was crystal clear (and very cold).

And here's a few from the higher Amphitheater Lake - elevation unknown but at least a couple of hundred feet higher than Surprise. This first one is a manufactured panorama of a couple of shots put together (plus very Ansel Adams-ish). Looking at the picture now, the scale is completely lost. Trust me, that peak back there is pretty high and far.

Here's the spot where I had previously made myself turn around and make it to the top lake. And that's me giving (once again) the thumbs up.

The "ride" down was much easier and I don't recall stopping much except to take a few pics to illustrate how high up I was. I believe the overall elevation change for the hike was around 2500 feet over 4.8 miles. That's the same lake in both pictures taken from different heights.