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- May 31, 2015
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September 7-9, 2023
I met up with some friends from Jackson and Spokane for a quick trip to the Pintlers in early September. We planned a lollipop loop on the SW end of the range with a small bit off trail.
We met up on Friday night at the Pintler Campground. We snagged the last available spot (there are only 4 spots, I believe) and set up in the dark. I didn't take any photos of our camp there, but it was a nice, quiet spot. Not a lot of people in this area. We sat and had a fire for a bit and went to bed. Heard what we believe was a mountain lion scream/groan across the meadow before we turned in. Pretty spooky.
We started our hike the next day. It was going to be a little over 13 miles, with some decent vert.
Morning view of the marshy meadow/pond or lake next to the campground.
It was a long, fairly straight shot up the canyon, most of it in the trees. We were surprised by the amount of bear grass growing here. It of course was past its bloom, but it was abundant. The trail was also very wet for September. I'm used to dusty, dry, and warm trips in early September, and this felt more like a late July/early August trip to me with the trail conditions. No bugs though!
Bambi forest
Starting to climb.
The trail steepened as we headed toward our first pass. We heard a few rumbles of thunder, but the storms never developed over us.
Looking down the drainage we came up.
We made it to the pass and had lunch. I was feeling pretty winded at this point, and the break sure helped. This was where we ran into the only person we saw the whole way. A solo backpacker and her dog. We talked for a bit and went on our way. We also heard an elk bugle (or a hunter calling elk) in the distance from up there.
Looking down the side of the pass that we were to head down.
Lunching on the pass. Our course for the day was to follow down the right side, circumnavigate the peaks directly in the back, and camp at a lake in the basin on the left.
One more.
We headed down the trail, on to the second leg of our trip. We had about 5 miles left to cover.
Hiking through larches on the way down. Didn't realize there were larches in the Pintlers.
We got to the lake down the trail.
We kept going and stopped at a stream running into the lake so we could fill up on water. Super nice day out.
From there, we began to ascend, and the trail passes through a big burn. Very cool scenery, even though walking through burns is not my favorite.
We eventually reached our turnoff to head off the trail.
This was where we went off the trail, up the ravine. 3 of us kept to the left, one went up the right along the edge of the rocks. Left side was marshy in places but not bad.
Some asters still holding out.
Picking through the rocks next to a little tarn.
Above the tarn.
We made it to the divide between watercourses, paused for a bit, and then began to head down.
Upper lake coming into view. We opted to camp at the lower lake.
Upper lake
Steve hopping across an isthmus of rocks through the water on the other side of the lake.
The lower lake was just down this slope. The trail picks back up at the lower lake.
First good views of the lower lake.
We got down to the lake and rested for a bit. We almost settled on the first site we found, but thanks to the persuasion of other members of the group, we moved farther down the trail to a better site that was a little ways away from the lake. I was hard to convince at first, but I'm glad we moved to the site we did.
Thought the rocks across the way were really interesting in how they looked like steps.
For all my talk about camp sites, I took no photos of it. You'll just have to take my word for it being a nice spot. It was a little farther from the lake and more spacious.
Andrew tried to catch fish in the lake for a while after we got camp set up. No luck despite a few rises. I seem to remember it raining very briefly that afternoon/evening too, but it wasn't enough to cause any inconvenience. It got pretty cold once the sun went down. We sat around the fire for a bit and then went to bed.
I got up in the morning and set out to get some water. There was some frost.
Looking at the trail from camp as the sun was coming up.
We had our breakfast and coffee, and we got started out pretty quickly.
Nice view of the drainage before we dropped down.
I didn't take any photos after that. We motored through the last several miles and got back to the cars. Great, sunny day. We headed to Anaconda for beers and Mexican food at Smelter City Brewing, then we went our separate ways. September and October are the best months for backpacking. Really happy to have gotten this one in.
I met up with some friends from Jackson and Spokane for a quick trip to the Pintlers in early September. We planned a lollipop loop on the SW end of the range with a small bit off trail.
We met up on Friday night at the Pintler Campground. We snagged the last available spot (there are only 4 spots, I believe) and set up in the dark. I didn't take any photos of our camp there, but it was a nice, quiet spot. Not a lot of people in this area. We sat and had a fire for a bit and went to bed. Heard what we believe was a mountain lion scream/groan across the meadow before we turned in. Pretty spooky.
We started our hike the next day. It was going to be a little over 13 miles, with some decent vert.
Morning view of the marshy meadow/pond or lake next to the campground.
It was a long, fairly straight shot up the canyon, most of it in the trees. We were surprised by the amount of bear grass growing here. It of course was past its bloom, but it was abundant. The trail was also very wet for September. I'm used to dusty, dry, and warm trips in early September, and this felt more like a late July/early August trip to me with the trail conditions. No bugs though!
Bambi forest
Starting to climb.
The trail steepened as we headed toward our first pass. We heard a few rumbles of thunder, but the storms never developed over us.
Looking down the drainage we came up.
We made it to the pass and had lunch. I was feeling pretty winded at this point, and the break sure helped. This was where we ran into the only person we saw the whole way. A solo backpacker and her dog. We talked for a bit and went on our way. We also heard an elk bugle (or a hunter calling elk) in the distance from up there.
Looking down the side of the pass that we were to head down.
Lunching on the pass. Our course for the day was to follow down the right side, circumnavigate the peaks directly in the back, and camp at a lake in the basin on the left.
One more.
We headed down the trail, on to the second leg of our trip. We had about 5 miles left to cover.
Hiking through larches on the way down. Didn't realize there were larches in the Pintlers.
We got to the lake down the trail.
We kept going and stopped at a stream running into the lake so we could fill up on water. Super nice day out.
From there, we began to ascend, and the trail passes through a big burn. Very cool scenery, even though walking through burns is not my favorite.
We eventually reached our turnoff to head off the trail.
This was where we went off the trail, up the ravine. 3 of us kept to the left, one went up the right along the edge of the rocks. Left side was marshy in places but not bad.
Some asters still holding out.
Picking through the rocks next to a little tarn.
Above the tarn.
We made it to the divide between watercourses, paused for a bit, and then began to head down.
Upper lake coming into view. We opted to camp at the lower lake.
Upper lake
Steve hopping across an isthmus of rocks through the water on the other side of the lake.
The lower lake was just down this slope. The trail picks back up at the lower lake.
First good views of the lower lake.
We got down to the lake and rested for a bit. We almost settled on the first site we found, but thanks to the persuasion of other members of the group, we moved farther down the trail to a better site that was a little ways away from the lake. I was hard to convince at first, but I'm glad we moved to the site we did.
Thought the rocks across the way were really interesting in how they looked like steps.
For all my talk about camp sites, I took no photos of it. You'll just have to take my word for it being a nice spot. It was a little farther from the lake and more spacious.
Andrew tried to catch fish in the lake for a while after we got camp set up. No luck despite a few rises. I seem to remember it raining very briefly that afternoon/evening too, but it wasn't enough to cause any inconvenience. It got pretty cold once the sun went down. We sat around the fire for a bit and then went to bed.
I got up in the morning and set out to get some water. There was some frost.
Looking at the trail from camp as the sun was coming up.
We had our breakfast and coffee, and we got started out pretty quickly.
Nice view of the drainage before we dropped down.
I didn't take any photos after that. We motored through the last several miles and got back to the cars. Great, sunny day. We headed to Anaconda for beers and Mexican food at Smelter City Brewing, then we went our separate ways. September and October are the best months for backpacking. Really happy to have gotten this one in.
