Solitude & Cliff Lake Loops

 

Last weekend was my turn to join Jordan on a long hike through our beloved Big Horns.  While we opted not to do the entire Solitude Loop, we still managed to hike 44 miles in 2 days, with just under 5700 ft of vertical gain.  We started from the Hunter Campground shortly after 6:15am last Thursday.  We saw 5 moose roughly 3 miles in, which was a delightful surprise and a decidedly good start.  Shortly after we started our ascent up and over Florence Pass (seen in the middle of the photo above).

Near the top of Florence Pass, we stopped for a moment to read the plaque placed there in memory of 10 World War II soldiers who crashed on the posthumously named Bomber Mountain.  It is still a mystery why the bomber was flying over these mountains en route from Oregon to Nebraska, over 150 miles off course.  No one knew the fate of the missing plane until 2 years later, when some cowboys saw several glints of metal atop the mountain and went to investigate.  The remains were gathered on VJ Day, although the recovery crew weren't aware of this auspicious event until they returned.  There are still parts of the plane on top of the mountain all these years later.  We paid our respects and then moved on.

After a brief lunch, we made our way through some beautiful alpine country, kicking up 3 more bull moose and a few mule deer along the way.

 

We finally arrived at camp around 7pm, having logged a little over 21 miles.  We found a tranquil spot on a meadow overlooking Lake Solitude, and we had dinner watching the sunset over the water.  Beautiful!

After a leisurely morning, we packed up and headed out around 8:15am.  After climbing out of the valley, we looked back to see our campsite on the far side of the water.  Breathtaking!

We trekked through several "parks" (meadows) and alongside numerous ponds & lakes until shortly before noon, when we jumped off the trail to do a 7 mile side hike around the Cliff Lake Loop.  Best.decision.ever!  We watched fish constantly jumping for insects on Cliff Lake during lunch, and then pushed upward to catch an epic view of Black Tooth (which we see from our front porch) and Cloud Peak (the tallest mountain in the Big Horns).

By 6pm, we had somewhat wearily hauled ourselves up Geneva Pass.  After 2 days of gaining elevation only to promptly lose it as we walked down to a valley below (wash, rinse, repeat...), it felt amazing to be on our final upward push. We had initially planned to spend another night on the trail and finish out the last 5+ miles in the morning, but the thought of a hot shower and comfy bed were irresistible.  

The trail is quite rocky in spots and it was slow going, but we made it to the trailhead at 8:35pm.  The last part of the trail is nestled against a west facing cliff in deep timber and we wore headlamps for the last 1.5 miles, but it was totally worth it when we pulled into our driveway at 10:30pm.

This view of Geneva Lake is one of the last views we saw before darkness set in. We are a bit sore and sun burnt, but every bead of sweat and quivering muscle was utterly worth it.  It was an incredible adventure!