Hidden Lakes

Gallatin National Forest, Montana - July 10, 2019

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.


© Ryan Thompson

© Ryan Thompson

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