Mirror Plateau Backpacking Trip
Posted: Mon Oct 23, 2017 2:49 pm
This is a report from a seven day backpacking trip in July that took our group up onto the Mirror Plateau before heading off-trail to Opal Creek, Mirror Lake, Upper Pelican Creek, then heading down Raven Creek, up and over Lovely Pass to Mist Creek, and finally down Mist Creek and the Lamar River back to the Soda Butte Trailhead. The wildflowers along our whole route were just spectacular and from a wildlife perspective, this was the best trip I had ever been on. If you include our 21 mile day hike through Hayden Valley and up to Cygnet lakes the day before this trip, we saw a total of 12 grizzly bears in eight days, hundreds of bison, at least 50 elk, deer, coyotes and a lone wolf.
View up Soda Butte
Looking across the Lamar Valley towards the Mirror Plateau
The Lamar River
View from the Specimen Ridge Trail
Wildflowers
More wildflowers - we ran into a sow and her cub shortly after this picture was taken
View as we approach the top of the Mirror Plateau
View from the top of the Mirror Plateau
Bison on the Mirror Plateau
View down Opal Creek in the late evening
View from the top of the Mirror Plateau
Ran into this big guy as we made our way through old burn and new growth
Absolutely gorgeous meadows on top of the plateau
Mirror Lake - north side
Mirror Lake - south side
More elk and bison along the headwaters of Timothy Creek
Elk Remains near the headwaters of Upper Pelican Creek
Grizzly bear on Upper Pelican Creek - seen from our campsite
Wildflowers near camp
Bison skull in the meadow along Upper Pelican Creek
Nice looking clouds
Fern Lake Patrol Cabin
Thermal area just off Pelican Creek
View down the Raven Creek Drainage - it rained hard all day long
Elephant Heads
The back side of a grizzly on Raven Creek
Lovely Pass
Heading down the south side of Lovely Pass - we ran into a sow and a cub in this new growth as we made our way down to Mist Creek
View from my tent at our campsite along Mist Creek
Grizzly - He would circle the meadow along Mist Creek for two days as we watched him.
The meadow along Mist Creek - very beautiful location - finally some good weather
View along Mist Creek
View from the trail - approaching the Lamar River
The Lamar River
View to the south
Grizzly print
The Lamar River
This grizzly ended up being trouble for me. As he approached through the corridor of trees, he stopped when I said, "Hey Bear" and then proceeded to swing his head back and forth and pop his jowls for and extended period of time before finally leaving the trail towards the river. I breathed a lot easier at this point.
The Lamar River drainage
Horse/Mule Train
Nearing the Soda Butte Trailhead
View up Soda Butte
Looking across the Lamar Valley towards the Mirror Plateau
The Lamar River
View from the Specimen Ridge Trail
Wildflowers
More wildflowers - we ran into a sow and her cub shortly after this picture was taken
View as we approach the top of the Mirror Plateau
View from the top of the Mirror Plateau
Bison on the Mirror Plateau
View down Opal Creek in the late evening
View from the top of the Mirror Plateau
Ran into this big guy as we made our way through old burn and new growth
Absolutely gorgeous meadows on top of the plateau
Mirror Lake - north side
Mirror Lake - south side
More elk and bison along the headwaters of Timothy Creek
Elk Remains near the headwaters of Upper Pelican Creek
Grizzly bear on Upper Pelican Creek - seen from our campsite
Wildflowers near camp
Bison skull in the meadow along Upper Pelican Creek
Nice looking clouds
Fern Lake Patrol Cabin
Thermal area just off Pelican Creek
View down the Raven Creek Drainage - it rained hard all day long
Elephant Heads
The back side of a grizzly on Raven Creek
Lovely Pass
Heading down the south side of Lovely Pass - we ran into a sow and a cub in this new growth as we made our way down to Mist Creek
View from my tent at our campsite along Mist Creek
Grizzly - He would circle the meadow along Mist Creek for two days as we watched him.
The meadow along Mist Creek - very beautiful location - finally some good weather
View along Mist Creek
View from the trail - approaching the Lamar River
The Lamar River
View to the south
Grizzly print
The Lamar River
This grizzly ended up being trouble for me. As he approached through the corridor of trees, he stopped when I said, "Hey Bear" and then proceeded to swing his head back and forth and pop his jowls for and extended period of time before finally leaving the trail towards the river. I breathed a lot easier at this point.
The Lamar River drainage
Horse/Mule Train
Nearing the Soda Butte Trailhead