Sounds ominous, doesn't it? We picked a hike that was just short of 8 miles to test our muscles and get a workout in preparation for the Grand Canyon hike.
This trail led us to the upper end of Phelps Lake before going up the side of Static Peak and into Death Canyon that separates Static Peak from Prospectors Mountain. Both mountains are over 11,000 feet but we went up to only 7,000 feet for a climb of a little over 2,000 feet. We walked through alpine forest, across several rock slides, a lot of switchbacks, and over subalpine terrain before following a beautiful stream falling down the mountain side. At the top of the trail we came to Alaska Basin Junction where we could have continued on into the mountains. But that was far enough for us. This spot was flat, shaded and had grassy areas near the stream. A perfect place for lunch. That is, until the black marmot tried to steal our lunch. He was very persistent to a point that we had to move to keep him away from us!
The hike down was okay because it was mostly down hill. About a mile and a half from the trailhead we came across a meadow where several people had stopped and were obviously watching something. It was a black bear, browsing for berries and making his way down the hill towards the lake and right past us. We didn't want to stick around for pictures as he was getting pretty close so we moved on with no photograph.
We see buffalo every day as we drive back to the campground so I got a quick picture.
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