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Part III: The Return
Part I: The Approach
Part II: Hidden Creek
Day 6: August 6, 2024
Part Three begins with Six BCPers waking up to soggy surroundings after overnight storms saturated our camp near Thorofare Creek. Our group would be splitting up again today. Now that this had turned into an out and back hike Chris, Brent, and Scott would be making a mad dash for the trailhead in two days time. Bob, Hugh, and I were in less of a hurry. I had four days before I was scheduled to fly out so we might as well savor our surroundings. We decided to hike around seven miles today and find a campsite somewhere along Butte Creek.
Sunrise on Thorofare Creek.
Part I: The Approach
Part II: Hidden Creek
Day 6: August 6, 2024
Part Three begins with Six BCPers waking up to soggy surroundings after overnight storms saturated our camp near Thorofare Creek. Our group would be splitting up again today. Now that this had turned into an out and back hike Chris, Brent, and Scott would be making a mad dash for the trailhead in two days time. Bob, Hugh, and I were in less of a hurry. I had four days before I was scheduled to fly out so we might as well savor our surroundings. We decided to hike around seven miles today and find a campsite somewhere along Butte Creek.
Sunrise on Thorofare Creek.
The rising sun cast a golden glow to the ridge across the creek.
Crossing the creek in the morning was a refreshing way to start the day. I was able to clack trekking poles with Chris and Brent to say goodbye on the opposite side, after that they quickly disappeared into the wilderness never to be seen or heard from again. Until they posted here on BCP that is.
This is what I imagine Hugh's statue will look like when they put his likeness outside of the hiker's hall of fame. I'm sure they will put him right next to Bob.
Fireweed holding water droplets from last night's precipitation.
The bulk of the storm must have hit the Pass Creek drainage as the clear water we crossed days ago was now murky. Pass Creek carried its haze into Thorofare Creek -- it was neat to see the difference between the two at their convergence.
Trailside Flowers. Dandelion (?) and Lupine.
@wsp_scott did not dart off with @futurafree and @b.stark right away. He moseyed a bit so we'd leapfrog now and again on the trail when we spotted something interesting. I'd like to say this was the last time we saw him, but every time I took his picture so I could say it was the last time we saw him he would disappear then reappear a short time later.
Geranium.
And then there were three. If you include the guy taking the picture.
After the crossing of Pass Creek but before the junction of North/South Forks of Butte Creek a hiker crosses Butte Creek to stay on trail. While crossing Hugh's foot slid off a slippery stone and he took a hard fall -- I caught the event only out of the corner of my eye. Read enough of our trip reports and you'll know that we tend to be a happy, fun loving bunch that enjoys our time in the outdoors. Under normal circumstances Hugh would have fallen, sat in the creek, and asked one of us to take his picture.
Bob and I knew this time was different though when Hugh was slow to get up and more grumbly than usual. We can be smart/serious when we need to be; once everyone was moving and a few minutes had passed we did our best to evaluate Hugh's condition. Bob is an EMT and I am a doctor of sorts. We were able to see Hugh was walking ok but favoring his right hand/arm -- the one he landed on. He was able to move all his fingers and a bone was not sticking out anywhere -- good signs -- we still told him he should wrap his wrist. In typical Hugh fashion he said he was fine. We left it at that. No sense in poking an already hurting bear.
View of Butte Creek not far from "the incident."
When Hugh, Bob, and I set off we thought a distance of seven miles might be a good place to start looking for a campsite. Unfortunately the last level spot with access to water was about six miles from our campsite on Thorofare Creek. At six miles both Bob and Hugh were good to keep going. We hit seven miles, then eight miles, and nine miles. . . no nice campsites with a water source.
We stopped to take a rest under one of the pine trees in the next picture. There was a nice spot to camp off to the right, but it would involve a significant climb down to the creek to get water. I offered to be a water shuttler, but we kept on going instead.
As we sat under the trees we felt a change in the weather and could see clouds building overhead. A storm was chasing us so we did our best to keep ahead of it.
Progress was good until we crosses paths with one of the longest horse trains I've seen on the trail. This group was heading to the Hidden Creek camp we had stayed at three nights ago.
Looks like a mini sunflower to me, but I'm sure it is called something else.
A few minutes after the horses passed by the storm caught up to us. It was time to take cover.
It did rain, but not terribly. The storm was moving quickly and before we knew it blue skies and sun were back with us. We could see threatening looking clouds looming over Deer Creek Pass/Kingfisher Peak and hoped Chris, Brent, and Scott missed the worst of it -- finding out later they were heading up the pass near this time.
The storm was a nice distraction and the post precipitation light set the hillsides of fireweed aglow.
Clouds continued to take on impressive shapes after the rain had passed.
Another storm was brewing but it stayed to the south of us.
At 9.7 miles we found a spot to make camp for the night. It was on a hillside containing ground squirrel burrows and numerous rocks likely flipped over by bears, but we found a flat spot for tents and fresh, running water was nearby.
Home for the night. Note my carefully crafted grizzly barricades around the periphery.
Dinner with a view. Chicken Pasta near Deer Creek Pass.
The Butte Creek Trio at dinner time on day six. It seems Hugh has a question. I guarantee it is not "Should I wrap this?"
Sunset over the Thorofare Buttes behind us.
The setting sun cast a warm glow on Deer Creek Pass -- the path we would be taking tomorrow. We spent more time on the trail than we had intended today, but it was easy to forget about that with this kind of view.
Day Seven: August 7, 2024
Sunrise at the Pass.
It seems we had a visitor near camp last night. These fresh prints were all over our eating area. . . a good reminder of why it is good to have an eating area away from camp.
Thorofare Buttes in the morning sun.
Today we would spend a grueling 2.6 miles on the trail -- the shortest trail day I've ever had in the backcountry. Our goal was to ascend over Deer Creek Pass and camp at the same place we stayed the first night. This gave us an extra day an extra day in the backcountry with time to explore, nap, and/or relax.
The climb up to the pass was not too bad.
@Bob was eager to get to the top!
Visually our surroundings appeared to change by the minute as we climbed. A fuzzy haze enveloped and obscured the view down Butte Creek Valley and beyond. It could have been smoke or just low lying atmosphere, but either way we were glad not to be on our planned ridge walk as there would be less to see.
At the top of the pass. The sun felt warm on your skin but there was enough wind to justify long sleeves and a fuzzy hat. We hung out on the pass for awhile and watched a number of ground squirrels foraging about.
Then it was down the sketchy trail of switchbacks. I have to say I felt more uneasy heading down trail than I was going up -- probably because it was easier to look down over the edge!
I made many attempts at getting a good paintbrush flower picture. This group of them looked nice.
Bob's favorite campsite. . . the "Circle of Death." If the bears do not get you the widow makers certainly will. I was too tired to notice the standing dead trees the first night, but could not help but see them everywhere this time. They dead trees are not as obvious in this picture.
The best part about this campsite was the flower lined portion of Deer Creek flowing behind it.
Our short day on the trail meant I had plenty of time to wander up/down the creek and enjoy my surroundings. There was quite the variety of flowers here, only a small portion of which are posted here.
Pollinators were enjoying this area too.
I have tried to keep the selfies to a minimum in these reports (group shots don't count!), but included this one so everyone can see what Day Seven wild hair looks like.
This could be that nice paintbrush flower picture I was after.
Deer Creek has several subtle waterfalls in this area that were worth adjusting shutter times on the camera for.
Minutes pass quickly when one admires creek side wildflowers. Dinner time arrived and this afternoons choice was jambalaya. It had a little more spice than I was expecting.
Seating at the dinner table.
My GoPro was showing 15% battery left after that picture, so for fun I put it on a time lapse setting during dinner. Here is the result:
As we were eating dinner we watched the clouds growing thicker overhead. They did not appear threatening as much as they blanketed the higher places. We turned in under cloudy skies. . . hoping that the wind kept to a minimum as not to disturb the standing snags.
Day Eight: August 8, 2024
Today's objective was to make it back to the trailhead unscathed. . . no more than we already were anyway.
The low clouds we noticed yesterday must have continued to drop overnight because when we woke up our entire camp was enveloped in fog. Visibility improved by the time this picture was taken. The potentially lethal trees look even more menacing as they leaned out of the haze towards our tents.
We wrung out our tent flies (flys?) and started down the trail. The low hanging clouds provided some interesting atmosphere along the trail. It also made the walk down feel completely different than it did on the hike up.
Down, down, and down we went. After a long series of switchbacks we crossed Deer Creek and stopped for a snack. Once or twice we discussed how much of a pain it was hiking up Deer Creek. . . and we may have felt a little proud of ourselves for doing something an average mortal may not have been able to do. Bob and Hugh were even talking about retiring after experiencing this gem of a trail. It was around then a fellow backpacker walked by our resting spot and we could not help but notice his. . . vintage status.
He passed by sporting a Camp Trails external frame pack and I took a quick picture.
We finished up our snack break and caught up with this gentleman on the trail. He was grazing on some raspberries trailside and after giving a friendly greeting l asked him nicely what his age might be. His answer was simply, "Oh, Eighty was a long time ago."
I told him he was an inspiration and wished him the best afternoon. I regret not asking his name.I've always thought that life has a way of putting things into perspective. Just as we were feeling all proud and mighty for hiking the Deer Creek Trail an octogenarian comes strolling by and nibbles on raspberries. I told Bob and Hugh that this was a sign it was too early for them to retire. I am not so sure they saw things the same way.
Perhaps Hugh was slightly inspired by this encounter as he was quick to exhibit his range of flexibility not long after meeting "80+ Year Old Bob."
The clouds continued to hang low as we walked the gradually descending part of the trail.
A warning for @wsp_scott to look away. This little critter caused me to jump as it slithered across the trail.
Speaking of critters one might encounter on the trail. . . my advice if you happened to stumble onto this scenario would be to quickly turn around and not make eye contact. Or you could simply pay the toll and he might let you pass.
The final water crossing. Steady. . . Steady. . .
An interesting plant along the trail.
Views of/from the trail as we returned to more steeply descending portions.
Can you see the bear tracks leading the way down the trail?
Views looking up and down the South Fork Shoshone River.
Group shot back at the trailhead.
Arriving at the fringes of civilization is not quite the end of our story. We had several priorities that needed to be addressed -- first was finding a place for the traditional post hike meal. We settled on the Cody Steakhouse. While Hugh shuttled Bob back to his truck down the road (where our loop hike would have emerged) I called to make reservations. Cell service was good at the Deer Creek Trailhead.
I also made a room reservation for the night as we were out of the backcountry a day early. The Irma - which was already booked for the next night - was full, so somehow I settled on the Moose Creek Lodge. After check in and a shower we met up for dinner. The food (and beer!) at the Cody Steakhouse gets a thumbs up.
After dinner @Bob headed back home to Idaho while Hugh and I walked back to the hotel. As fate would have it the Moose Creek Lodge is a short walk to the Cody Regional Health West Park Hospital. (I will be sure to mention this as a plus in my hotel review.) Hugh and I walked in to the ER to finally have his wrist looked at.
Priorities. Steakhouse first. Hospital second.
I will not go into specifics (don't want to infringe on them Hippo laws) but here is a picture after some diagnostics. I'm guessing the doctor is telling Hugh he should have wrapped it.
Hugh and I hung out in Cody the next day and acted like tourists. He was kind enough to give me a ride to the Cody airport the next morning. My flight was scheduled to depart at 7AM so I arrived at 5:30AM. I do not think I have ever been the first/only person in an airport before.
And now we can conclude this exciting expedition by flying off into the sunrise. Seems more appropriate than heading off into the sunset, especially considering the group of people I'd been hanging out with. It was great getting to know Brent, Chris, and Jim. It is always a good time when one is on the trail with Scott, Bob, and Hugh. Thank you everyone for letting me tag along on the trail and waiting for me while taking too many pictures. I hope we can do something similar again soon.
The End.
