Yellowstone National Park Backcountry DAY 3

Day 1 and Day 2 found here.
The third and final day of the trip started earlier then the day before.  Zach had to get home to Utah and I wanted to see my family.  It was to be the shortest day as we headed to the trail head at Lewis Lake. 

The moose

Dropping back to Shoshone Lake

We woke up to a brisk morning.  The cold air had settled in the valley.  Preparations were being made and we were eating breakfast to fuel up.  As we ate breakfast the reason for naming Moose Creek became very evident.  All of a sudden Jordan looked up and motioned to the right of both Zach and I.  We thought he was joking around but looked anyways.  Right there in the middle of our camp with out making a sound was a moose.  Probably about 2 years old, the male moose just stood there looking at us, as if to say "hey guys what's going on", then he started towards the creek.  We scrambled to find out cameras, trying not to make too much noise so we would startle the moose into either running away or charging.  We snapped a couple of shots before the moose disappeared into the bushes.  We followed cautiously.  This was the only animal we had seen after two whole days in the backcountry.  

Jordan and Zach crossing the Shoshone Lake outlet

After all that excitement we packed up and headed out.  The trail was steep straight away. It plateaued around 8,000 feet and then dropped back to the lake.  As we dropped back down we came across a group of volunteers improving the trail.  These were pretty much the only people we had any interaction with up to this point.  We had hardly seen anyone else out on the trail.  We had to ford the crossing at the Shoshone Lake outlet, the start of the Lewis River.  The water provided a good break for our hot feet.  We spend some time enjoying the scenery as we let our feet dry before putting our boots back on.

That way...

Once across the river we headed along the shore to the ranger's station at Shoshone Lake.  I should have snapped some pictures.  The cabin was nothing to shake a stick at, in fact it made me want to be a backcountry ranger.  It had a solar panel, outdoor cooking area, plenty of chopped wood, and all the tools you would need to live in the back country.  From what I could see from the outside there was indoor cooking area, a living area, and a loft of some sort.  There was a chimney as well, not sure if for a fireplace or simply a cooking vent.
This is were we had a decision to make.  We could stay along the river and eventually along Lewis Lake shore, or take the high route off the water and see nothing.  We chose the low route even though it was longer in miles we figured it would be a little more enjoyable.  It probably did take a little longer the way we went.  The trail was up and down 50 feet or so, normally not a big deal, but do that 10-15 times and it gets annoying.  I was driven to get finished though.  I don't know why but the last day of a hike I always just push harder.  It isn't that I want to get out of the woods or even get the pack off my back.  I just feel like I can improve my time, like a runner that catches a 2nd wind.  Something that is hard to explain.  I'm sure it annoys Zach a little bit, he is the one always putting up with it.

Next time we are jumping in.

One spot I wish we could have spent more time at was an out crop of rocks that jutted into the river.  The rocks were anywhere from 10-25 feet from the water surface.  We could see to the bottom and there were a couple of good deep spots that would have been great fun to jump into.  Not wanting to take the time to change and swim and dry off we opted to keep pushing after a short break.

Lewis Lake with the Tetons in the far
distance.

Eventually we came to Lewis lake.  A much smaller lake than Shoshone but deeper.  The wind on Lewis Lake is much stranger than on Shoshone. This created larger waves and kept us cooler.  We could see motor boats on the lake and came in contact with a few people out for day hikes and fishing.  There was a sense that we were reaching the end of our trek.  We paused again to call our wives.  My wife, Jessica, was picking us up at the parking lot and I wanted to try coordinate with here our pick up.  We guessed that we had about 45 minutes left on the trail.  I couldn't get a hold of her so I sent a text and a voice mail.  Pushing on we came to our finish.  The parking lot came almost out of nowhere, tucked in the trees there was no real warning we were at our end point.  The three of us shed our packs in the shade.  It was almost exactly 45 minutes from the time I called my wife.  At the parking lot we didn't have the open space provided by the lake and therefore didn't have a cell signal.  With my phone starting to die I went out to the main road.  The phone picked up a signal, all be it a very spotty one.  I couldn't get through to Jessica.  As cars zoomed by I was hoping to get a signal.  Then almost with stroke of pure luck I saw her coming down the road.  She pulled over and admitted to not knowing where to turn to pick us up.  I had shown her the location on the maps, but didn't blame her for this because the signs for the parking lot were small and the pull out was around a corner.
A good day to end a great trip!