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On Sunday we took advantage of the shuttle and hiked the Odessa Loop between Bear Lake and the Fern Lake Trailhead. It was a nice warm up hike. We did a bunch of off trail hiking during this trek. It was a great day with great weather.
On Monday we decided to do an easy hike to get ready for our big hike on Tuesday. I thought that Emerald lake would be a good choice and then maybe Haiyaha after. We had a nice stroll to Nymph, Dream and Emerald. Once at Emerald I mentioned to my friends that it is pretty cool above Emerald. We hiked above on the south side of the lake with all intentions of just hanging out on the boulders above the lake. Once up there I suggested going up a little into the gorge. We headed west and did some cool boulder hopping.
Geoff with Emerald below and Dream in the distance.
For October I was surprised to see some raspberries and some wildflowers still hanging around.
A lone Columbine
Once we were rolling along I mentioned that there was a high tarn called Pool of Jade up ahead, but I wasn't sure how far. After some discussion we decided to hit Pool of Jade and possibly up to Tyndall Glacier. I told the guys that I wasn't sure if there was a way up to Falttop from the Glacier, but would they want to try it. Of course all said yes. I stressed to them if there wasn't a way we would have to turn around and come back. The day was sunny and beautiful so we decided to go for it.
There really wasn't a trail and the hiking was a bit difficult over boulders, talus and some loose rocks and dirt. John and I took the trail on the north side of Hallet while Geoff and Ben decided to head to over more towards Flattop.
John and his satchel taking a break after a pretty significant climb up. You can see a little of Dream Lake below and Sprague in the distance.
From this point to the Pool of Jade (or at least what I think was the Pool of Jade), the hiking was a blast. Huge boulder hopping and great big rock slabs to walk on. I can move pretty quickly on the uphill, especially on this type of stuff so I was at Pool of Jade, or what was left of it, in no time. It was almost dried up completely. The area was a great place to take a break. It had a cool "lunar" feel to it and the sun was shining. So I laid back on a rock and waited for the others. What a very cool spot.
Pool of Jade (??) with the Glacier looming in the distance. As you can see it's not much "pool" and no "jade"
Another view
Once everyone arrived at the "Lack of Pool of Jade" we discussed our route. It was a pretty good climb just to the glacier and we were starting to feel it a little. Knowing that the glacier was pretty steep and probably pretty icy this time of year we decided to try to skirt around it on the right side. As we headed to the glacier, it seemed to get further away (I hate when that happens) As we neared the glacier we realized that it did not look good for getting around on it's north side and the south side seemed totally out of the question. I noticed a couple of patches of tundra on the side of Flattop that I thought we could go around/through and up the gully to the top. I was not positive if the "top" was actually a false summit kind of thing that might cliff out to a smaller gorge. I was trying to remember from past hikes on the Flattop trail, but I don't think I ever looked over that way. We decided to give it a try. Worse case scenario we would use all of our energy for nothing and have to turn around and head all the way back down to Emerald. No big deal, right?
So we headed up. I mean UP! Very steep climb with some areas of very loose earth to make things a bit difficult. I was hoping that this got us to the top. The weather was starting to get iffy as well. Clouds were rolling in. I was thinking man if it rains and we have to turn around and go back down to Emerald, it won't be much fun on slippery wet rocks and boulders. Well we didn't have to worry about that, as we neared the top I could tell that the trail led exactly where I had hoped. Right to the Flattop Trail just a few hundred yard from the "summit".
John headed up the steep trail
Ben & Geoff making the climb (they are in the bottom center of photo) You can see the clouds starting to roll in.
Once at the top of Flattop we talked with a couple of ladies that didn't want to continue on to Hallet for fear of getting wet. Geoff was pretty beat and thought this was a good idea. John was having none of that. He said to Geoff "you are all the way up here now, you are doing it". From Flattop it is actually a pretty easy hike. Maybe a half mile more with a gain of about 400-500ft. It takes longer to get to the base of Hallet than it does to get up there. We could see the weather to the west was looking like snow and/or rain but it seemed to be moving towards the north a bit and decided to go for it.
We headed to Hallet and I let John lead the way. He likes to jump out in front and I figured it was his summit to tag. At the base of Hallet the weather moved in. It became pretty windy and started to snow sideways. It wasn't exactly snow but more like big dippin dots that stung when they hit you. John arrived at the summit a bit before me and decided he wanted to make Geoff laugh when he arrived so he decided to frolic a bit waiting for Geoff.
THIS NEXT PHOTO IS NOT FOR THE SENSITIVE
John Frolicking and enjoying the views. If you look right at John you can see some of the snow pushing sideways.
The view of our route up to Flattop. You can see the two patches of tundra in the center of the photo. We bascically went straight through the small patch on the left and up the dirt gully but actually more to the right of the dirt on the rocks.
As we headed down Hallet the snow stopped a bit, but as we neared Flattop there was a big boom of thunder so we started moving at a better pace. The snow was coming down pretty good as we neared the part of the trail directly across from Notchtop. Ben wanted to stop and take a photo when a big bolt of lighting seemed to hit near Notchtop and a boom of thunder less than a second later. That was all I needed to hear. Bad ankle or not I stared running down the trail. It's amazing how a little lighting stops that nagging pain in my ankle. The rest of the hike was pretty uneventful. Once a Bear Lake it was sunny and warm once again.
Dinner and beer was a Mary's Lake Lodge. Another great day in the park.
Edited by GLENNinPA, 13 October 2011 - 04:49 PM.
