TMax
New member
- Joined
- Feb 12, 2005
- Messages
- 589
- Reaction score
- 85
What a pleasant weekend. 
Started off at the Biscuit Brook Trailhead about 4:30 Friday afternoon where I ran into JayH. We two poor slobs had to work that day! Loaded on our heavy packs and headed up to the Leanto. Jay quickly left me in his dust and my longtime 4-legged hiking buddy Luke decided he wanted to hike fast that evening and galloped ahead with Jay. Noticed a roll of toilet paper on the trail (read Coldfeets TR to clarify its origins ) Headlamp came out once I was heading up the second pitch. As I walked, my lamp got dimmer and dimmer. Another stop to dig through the pack to get my backup and I was off again. Heard noises off trail and hollered. It was Jay and Luke, doing a spontaneous bushwhack! Luke was the first to arrive at the leanto (much to the surprise of its inhabitants) with Jay right behind. I rolled in a few minutes later. Already at the Leanto were Daxs, Coldfeet, Mcorsar, and JohnS. They were just finishing up dinner and had a nice fire going. Spent a pleasant evening telling tales and attempting to stay warm. Bedtime was dictated by the end of firewood. Climbed into bags (thankfully most of us brought winter ones) and worked on getting warm. It was a cold evening with incredibly bright moonlight. I got to try out my new –30 Backside bag (toasty…).
Everyone hung out in their bags in the morning not looking forward to that cold blast. Eventually mother nature’s call won out and we all started moving. Hermit soon joined us but quickly took off to hit Big Indian before he met us on the herd path over to Doubletop. Ajtiv had promised bagels when he came up in the morning but we couldn’t wait so we had a quick round of hot drinks and oatmeal and then Ajtiv showed up, with a HEAVY load of bagels. (THANKS AL ) We all threw one in our packs for lunch and headed off. Crossing Biscuit Brook was more difficult than usual at this time of year and we walked upstream a little way before we found a reasonable crossing. JayH and Ajtiv quickly busted out in front of the rest of us and Luke decided he wanted to hang out with the boys and left me in his dust. I guess he was pleased to have hiking pals who could keep up with him! As we started climbing up the hill everyone got warm and started peeling layers. Met up with Hermit, JayH, and Ajtiv where the herd path branches off and started out. The day was beautiful, sunny and not too cold. We dropped down into the col and then started the long climb up Doubletop with Luke doing most of the route-finding . We took a straight-on approach that led to some steep climbing. The ground is extremely saturated so earth moved and feet got wet. We decided we wanted to try to find the plane wreck over there and came right up on it, just as if we knew what we were doing! The poor soul piloting that plane barely missed clearing the mountain. Seeing those wrecks is always a little sobering. Hung out on the summit for a little while, replenishing our fuel. We had originally thought we’d head over to Graham but the day was getting late and most of us wanted to get back to the leanto before dark. So we decided to go back and hit Big Indian before calling it a day. JayH and Hermit took off to try to find a military plane wreck and the rest of us started back down into the col. Only very careful placement of feet and hiking poles kept us from sliding down in the wet earth. The climb back up the shoulder of Big Indian was a pleasant hike through great terrain. Mcorsar, Luke and I got out in front of the gang and headed over to Big Indian. Overshot the short bushwhack up by a ways and wound up last on the summit. (Thanks JayH and Daxs for waiting for me!) On the way back to the leanto we collected the nights fuel while Luke took a tough spill crossing the brook and wound up with a bit of a limp. Hermit and Coldfeet headed home and the rest of us cooked up a bunch of interesting dinners and one lousy desert… Nice roaring fire with feet and boots drying off until one of us (I won’t narc the person out) melted a piece of footwear! You’d be amazed at how quick boots moved away from that fire! JayH and Ajtiv turned round and round at the fire, like they were turning on a spit, trying to stay warm. Eventually we all climbed into bags and called it a night.
This morning we were up bright and early, eating the rest of the bagels and packing up some of our gear. (Was that a chorus of "Oh what a beautiful morning" coming from the privy?) Luke was still favoring his leg so I decided more hiking wasn’t in his day. Mcorsar decided to bag another peak so he and I loaded up heavy packs to head out while Daxs, JohnS, JayH, and Ajtiv all headed up to fir. One of them will have to post part two of this trip report. Great weekend with great people…when/where’s the next one?
Started off at the Biscuit Brook Trailhead about 4:30 Friday afternoon where I ran into JayH. We two poor slobs had to work that day! Loaded on our heavy packs and headed up to the Leanto. Jay quickly left me in his dust and my longtime 4-legged hiking buddy Luke decided he wanted to hike fast that evening and galloped ahead with Jay. Noticed a roll of toilet paper on the trail (read Coldfeets TR to clarify its origins ) Headlamp came out once I was heading up the second pitch. As I walked, my lamp got dimmer and dimmer. Another stop to dig through the pack to get my backup and I was off again. Heard noises off trail and hollered. It was Jay and Luke, doing a spontaneous bushwhack! Luke was the first to arrive at the leanto (much to the surprise of its inhabitants) with Jay right behind. I rolled in a few minutes later. Already at the Leanto were Daxs, Coldfeet, Mcorsar, and JohnS. They were just finishing up dinner and had a nice fire going. Spent a pleasant evening telling tales and attempting to stay warm. Bedtime was dictated by the end of firewood. Climbed into bags (thankfully most of us brought winter ones) and worked on getting warm. It was a cold evening with incredibly bright moonlight. I got to try out my new –30 Backside bag (toasty…). Everyone hung out in their bags in the morning not looking forward to that cold blast. Eventually mother nature’s call won out and we all started moving. Hermit soon joined us but quickly took off to hit Big Indian before he met us on the herd path over to Doubletop. Ajtiv had promised bagels when he came up in the morning but we couldn’t wait so we had a quick round of hot drinks and oatmeal and then Ajtiv showed up, with a HEAVY load of bagels. (THANKS AL
) We all threw one in our packs for lunch and headed off. Crossing Biscuit Brook was more difficult than usual at this time of year and we walked upstream a little way before we found a reasonable crossing. JayH and Ajtiv quickly busted out in front of the rest of us and Luke decided he wanted to hang out with the boys and left me in his dust. I guess he was pleased to have hiking pals who could keep up with him! As we started climbing up the hill everyone got warm and started peeling layers. Met up with Hermit, JayH, and Ajtiv where the herd path branches off and started out. The day was beautiful, sunny and not too cold. We dropped down into the col and then started the long climb up Doubletop with Luke doing most of the route-finding . We took a straight-on approach that led to some steep climbing. The ground is extremely saturated so earth moved and feet got wet. We decided we wanted to try to find the plane wreck over there and came right up on it, just as if we knew what we were doing! The poor soul piloting that plane barely missed clearing the mountain. Seeing those wrecks is always a little sobering. Hung out on the summit for a little while, replenishing our fuel. We had originally thought we’d head over to Graham but the day was getting late and most of us wanted to get back to the leanto before dark. So we decided to go back and hit Big Indian before calling it a day. JayH and Hermit took off to try to find a military plane wreck and the rest of us started back down into the col. Only very careful placement of feet and hiking poles kept us from sliding down in the wet earth. The climb back up the shoulder of Big Indian was a pleasant hike through great terrain. Mcorsar, Luke and I got out in front of the gang and headed over to Big Indian. Overshot the short bushwhack up by a ways and wound up last on the summit. (Thanks JayH and Daxs for waiting for me!) On the way back to the leanto we collected the nights fuel while Luke took a tough spill crossing the brook and wound up with a bit of a limp. Hermit and Coldfeet headed home and the rest of us cooked up a bunch of interesting dinners and one lousy desert… Nice roaring fire with feet and boots drying off until one of us (I won’t narc the person out) melted a piece of footwear! You’d be amazed at how quick boots moved away from that fire! JayH and Ajtiv turned round and round at the fire, like they were turning on a spit, trying to stay warm. Eventually we all climbed into bags and called it a night. This morning we were up bright and early, eating the rest of the bagels and packing up some of our gear. (Was that a chorus of "Oh what a beautiful morning" coming from the privy?) Luke was still favoring his leg so I decided more hiking wasn’t in his day. Mcorsar decided to bag another peak so he and I loaded up heavy packs to head out while Daxs, JohnS, JayH, and Ajtiv all headed up to fir. One of them will have to post part two of this trip report. Great weekend with great people…when/where’s the next one?
![Grand Teton Day Hikes and National Park Map [Map Pack Bundle] (National Geographic Trails Illustrated Map)](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41DB0jvRnbL._SL500_.jpg)
![Yellowstone National Park [Map Pack Bundle] (National Geographic Trails Illustrated Map)](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51kGuJ72qjL._SL500_.jpg)
