TOP OF THE WORLD
I
got up at 7 the next morning, packed up, and backtracked up to the Continental
Divide. A few minutes later I spooked
two elk on the ridge ahead of me. They
bolted and reached the top of the next hill in about 20 seconds. It took me 20 minutes to cover the same
distance, but they were long gone by the time I arrived.
Late
that morning I was startled to see other people on the ridge above me. It was the first complete human being that I
had seen since David and I parted ways on that first
morning. In fact, there were 10 complete
human beings. I think they were boy
scouts, or a similar group. We passed
near each other on almost the same route and shared a wave. Absolute solitude returned after that brief
interlude.
From
there I endured a long, occasionally steep climb to a significant summit at
about 11,300’. I had a late lunch there
and took in the views in every direction.
Highlights included the cliffs of Wall Mountain and the remote Younts
Peak and Thorofare Mountain. Many miles
to the south, I could see the cliffs of the peaks near Brooks Lake.
The
weather was nice but hot, and there were plenty of clouds around. There weren’t any imminent storms, but the
possibility couldn’t be completely ignored.
I didn’t linger as long as I might have liked,
as it was a long way down to Lost Creek.
I
descended steeply, before leaving the Continental Divide. I followed a spur ridge northwest to an
alpine tarn, and then continued down the ridge towards Lost Creek. I dropped down to the creek immediately
upstream from where it enters a canyon.
That proved to be an ideal place to rock hop, as the stream was braided
and shallow. The view up the valley
towards Marston Pass is stunning from there.
I
climbed the far side to reach the Marston Pass Trail. I headed west, enjoying an easy trail
hike. Some parts aren’t exactly easy –
there are a surprising number of steep climbs along the way. Still, it was nice to be able to follow a
trail for a change.
I
had just finished the biggest climb and was turning a corner when I was
startled by yet another human being.
Good Lord, what was going on today?
Where had all of these
people come from?
I
chatted a bit with this one. Robert was
from Powell, Wyoming, outside of Cody.
He was doing a similar trip. He
had started at Turpin Meadows, bound for the South Fork Shoshone River,
intending to follow the Continental Divide for several days. He had hiked up the North Fork Buffalo. A few miles above North Fork Falls he took a
wrong turn but didn’t realize it. I had
made the same mistake two years ago while hiking up the North
Fork, but I realized it pretty quickly. He didn’t.
He followed a rough, unmaintained trail up an unnamed tributary of the
North Fork. It took him to treeline, and from there he had continued up to the
Continental Divide, where he had intended to go all along. He had followed the Divide south almost to
Ferry Lake, and he was now looking for a campsite. I suggested camping where we were. I had camped there 2
years ago. It’s not terribly comfortable
due to the lumpy ground, but there is a great view of a beautiful
waterfall.
He
had lots of questions for me, as I had just hiked his intended route. I shared some information, and I also had
questions for him. I was particularly
curious about the trail he had followed up the tributary of the North Fork
Buffalo. He said it was rough but
doable, and it passed a bunch of waterfalls.
That perked my interest – in fact, I had marked a
number of likely waterfalls in that drainage on my map in my GAIA
app. He said that he didn’t see a trail
towards Tri County Lake. The trail had
faded out near treeline, and he had just continued up the drainage to the
Continental Divide.
We
parted ways, and I continued on towards Ferry
Lake. I had planned to spend a couple of
nights at Ferry Lake on my trip in 2022, but we didn’t make it there. I was looking forward to finally seeing it.
I
didn’t have to wait much longer. After
crossing the creek just downstream from the waterfall, I climbed one more
hill. At the top I got my first glimpse
of Ferry Lake. The wildflowers were
insane along this stretch, and that continued all the way down to the
lake. I followed another trail around
the east side of the lake and then hiked west towards the outlet. When I arrived I
found a camping area featuring a large clearing, bear boxes, and marginal tent
sites. In fact, there was one good spot
for a small tent, right in front of the first waterfall on Ferry Lake’s outlet
stream.
I’m
not sure what to call Ferry Lake’s outlet stream. It is unnamed on my map, and the stream
doesn’t even have a blue line. That’s
odd, as it is a large creek. Another
oddity is that it flows into the Lake Fork of the South Fork Buffalo a couple
of miles downstream. My map indicates
that the Lake Fork is the stream a couple of miles
east with the beautiful waterfall that I had passed earlier. It starts up near the Continental Divide, but
it doesn’t have a lake. The unnamed
tributary starts at Ferry Lake. My guess
is that the map is mislabeled. The
stream flowing out of Ferry Lake is probably Lake Fork, and the other stream is
probably just a tributary.
Whether
it has a name or not, it is spectacular.
That first waterfall is only 15’ or so, but it is pretty. A short distance downstream is a stunning,
40’ waterfall. There are many more
waterfalls downstream from there. I was
looking forward to exploring them the next day.
I
enjoyed another lovely sunset with alpenglow over Ferry Lake that night before
heading to the tent. I had trouble
sleeping that night, due to the excitement of the waterfall exploration waiting
for me the next day.
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