Divide Lake.....Almost!

 

It is said that bad things come in threes.  This may be true for backpacking for us over the July 4th weekend. We had grand plans of heading to Divide Lake near Dubois Idaho in the Medicine Lodge area for 3 days/2 nights. I had a paper to finish so we got a late start hitting the trail after 1 pm. It had been a beautiful sunny morning but as we drove farther into the hills the clouds looked like they could produce a bit of rain. 



4th of July Divide Lake


We didn’t make it very far and it started to rain.

  We had some rain gear and continued on up the trail.  It is 6 miles from the trailhead to the Lake. Although the rain was falling from the sky the creek had no water.  We had some water in our packs but for the most part, had hoped to rely on our filtration system to get water.   I am usually the optimist or the delusional one in our marriage. I was hoping that just around the next bend that a small spring would pop up and we would have water. The rain let up and low and behold a small spring did pop up about 4 miles into our hike.





 Just about the time, we found the spring very dark clouds, heavy rain, thunder, lightning all in sued. We decided that we did not want to be a lightning rod next to a lake. Turning back was a little disheartening but we felt we had made the right call. Heading back made for a longer hike than we originally planned.   I had my boom box playing tunes, my cowbell on my pack, hiking in the lead, and at this point more than a little wet.




 All of a sudden Andy is yelling BEAR!

BEAR? WHERE? I am looking everywhere.  Then I see a bear right next to a pine tree looking at us.  We continue by calling out “Hey, bear!” The bear was not afraid of us, but we were of it.  This was my first time seeing a grizzly up close and personal. Once we continued onto safety, we quickly forgot about being wet or tired. We saw moose, deer, pika, and of course a grizzly bear. We also saw a vibrant rainbow on the drive home. 




So, Day one may have been a little rough read our next entry for day two and see if bad things really come in three's.

 


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