ALWAYS Take the Road Less Traveled: All on a Sunny Day

Mystic Lake from the Froze to Death Plateau

With an unexpected extra night off of work and beautiful, sunny weather in the forecast, I knew exactly what I wanted to do with my long weekend. We could finally make our assault on Froze to Death Plateau.

We first discovered East Rosebud and Slough Lake over ten years ago. Then, in the last few years, we made a couple of trips up the West Rosebud drainage to Mystic Lake. I have always wanted to do the whole hike from one end to the other, but we just didn't have a way to make it work. But, now we do.

Thursday afternoon, we hauled the camper up to the Jimmy Joe Campground in the East Rosebud valley. I was a little surprised and extremely delighted to find the place completely deserted. We chose a spot close to the river and set up camp. Then we drove both vehicles over to the Mystic Lake trail head and left the truck. Then, BACK again (did I mention that it is about thirty miles between the valleys?) for dinner and a little evening photography.

We were up early on Friday morning, and on the trail by 7:15. The guidebook said that this is a thirteen mile hike, and the trail divides itself nicely into four roughly equal segments. Slough Lake marked the end of the first quarter, so we took a short break for a snack and a few pictures.

Slough Lake

The next objective was the summit of the plateau. A beautiful, if distant, waterfall kept us entertained for several miles. We met a hiker coming the other way who told us that he had seen a bear just below the plateau. Well then, I kinda want to see a bear, but I also kinda want to live.

The whole plateau was blanketed with wildflowers.

We reached the summit without seeing anything or anybody. The moment that we topped out on the plateau and Mt Wood, Mt Houge, and Pyramid Mountain loomed large on the horizon was perhaps the highlight of the whole day. With renewed vigor, we crossed the plateau and were soon looking down on Mystic Lake and Island Lake. We stopped at this half-way point and just soaked up the sun and the view.

Once off of the plateau, the trail drops steeply down to Mystic Lake. About half-way down, it became obvious that this was a hike of more than thirteen miles. The gps showed that we were closing in on the twelve mile mark, and we weren't even to the lake yet, and we know that it is three miles from the lake to the parking lot. Eventually, we did reach the lake, and then the truck. Twelve hours and 15.81 miles after we started, I was tired and footsore. But, oh, what a feeling of accomplishment I had!