The third day in and around Gallatin National Forest I thought about doing some bouldering up at Hidden Lakes. The trailhead was a bit steep and rocky getting to but was climbing at super fast rate so I was excited to see what was at the top. There was no one there when I got to the trailhead and was getting a bit nervous because it seemed to be in the middle of nowhere. My cell phone has read No Service for quite sometime and I knew that I wasn’t going to be able to get any at the place where I was headed. Walking through the forest with the noise coming from the two metal coffee cups I brought and my hand on some bear mace ready for anything that jumped out on me. I was worried that there was a grizzly up ahead of me and didn’t want to be the one that startled him because of the dense forest around me.
There are black bears back home in the Adirondacks but no one seems to be worried about them the way that people are cautious about grizzly bears. I have never seen a black bear while hiking in the Adirondacks and it seems to be a quite frequent occurrence of seeing them in Montana even though I have yet so see one myself. I think once I see one, and see what happens when I do that I won’t be quite as nervous around the area. I made it to Hidden Lakes and there were some nice boulders to climb. I tried my best but because of where I was and the fact that I didn’t have a crash pad I didn’t really push myself to complete the problems. The two lakes were spectacular. They were hiding in a valley and it seemed like very little people come up to check them out. The water was crisp and super clear like all the other water in Montana. I came back to the trailhead and made lunch/dinner. I really like this spot and didn’t see any one else while I was up here.
Mile - 2212