Skyline: Doubletop Mountain, Cutthroat Lakes, No Name Lakes, Summit Lake, and Elbow Lake

Bridger-Teton National Forest

(green line, map link)

DAY 1 | DAY 2 | DAY 3 | DAY 4 | DAY 5

I must have found quite the cold pocket because the thermometer claimed it got down to 24°F. It's suspicious because all the other nights were around 40°F, but I did have frost on my feet again. Certainly below freezing! I was well positioned for sunshine, so it warmed up quickly once that nuclear reactor was visible. There was enough time to tag the top of Doubletop Mountain, so I only partly packed up before heading out. The trail may not be particularly visible at the junction, but once a little way along, there's plenty of trail. I soon turned off it heading for the lower of Doubletop's double peaks.

077: rock looking like something carved big chunks out — Looking back toward Palmer Lake from the lower peak of Doubletop Mountain.

078: another peak — Doubletop Mountain's higher peak.

Then I turned and headed for the taller peak. There had been a false peak to catch me on the way up the lower one. The higher one is even more straightforward.

070: mountainy bits — The southerly expanse of view.

080: peak with extra peaks — Looking back to the lower peak.

081: flats after the flat peaks — Out to the flats to the northwest.

082: 10857 feet high — Found me a benchmark.

083: wide, shallow bowl — More of the view: southwest.

Then I headed down to catch the trail and take it back to camp to collect the rest of my stuff.

086: many a fluttery thing — Lots of butterflies. (Fritallaries and a Rocky Mountain parnassian on hairy Arnica.)

087: pointy peaks — Following trail back to camp.

Then, with a much heavier pack, I started rolling along east past lake after lake. There's never much of a climb or drop. It's 200 feet up, then 200 feet down, over and over again.

089: lots of blue — Leaving Palmer Lake.

090: rolling hills — Rolling down toward a bit of lake above Dean Lake.

093: long slope — A window in the trees to see the long downhill west.

094: lots of dirt around the water — Some of the lakes are full, and some are very much emptied by the season.

095: distant peaks — First glimpse of Cutthroat Lakes.

I stopped by the flowing inlet to Cutthroat Lakes for some water, which wasn't nearly so nice as the water from Palmer Lake. I'm used to it being the other way around. Then it was up and over another hill to the No Name Lakes. They're big and the trail sticks near the bit of water running along them for a while.

097: trail distant from a large lake under a pointy peak — The upper of the No Name Lakes below Glover Peak.

098: big lake with a rim distant from it — Looking down on another row of Cutthroat Lakes to the south.

099: water in a horseshoe — The east end of that upper No Name Lake curves around like a horseshoe.

100: water with peaks — The lower of the No Name Lakes is about as big as the upper.

101: line of water going down — The stream off the No Name Lakes is quite strong.

Once the trail gets tired of the No Name Lakes, it's back to a little up and down, mostly down, to finish off at Summit Lake.

103: lakes and mountains — Approaching Summit Lake (left) under Mount Oeneis and Sky Pilot Peak.

Doubletop Mountain Trail runs into the Highline Trail right next to where Pine Creek Canyon does the same. It's a trail now getting better known as the Continental Divide Trail. That thing seems to keep turning up. The Great Divide itself runs along the high peaks to the east. I turned "south" along the trail, which largely meant southeast followed by northeast.

105: large crest shaped sign — A crest faded to white adorns the Continental Divide Trail as it passes Summit Lake (right). The mountain is Glover Peak to the north.

The trail changed character for a little way as it edged around the top of Pine Creek Canyon and made its first crossing of Elbow Creek.

107: big, long hole in the ground — Hanging around Pine Creek Canyon again.

108: bit of water — Pine Creek is much smaller up here.

110: small rodent — Pika got back to cleaning after watching me a bit as I ate.

111: creek with waterfall tops — Elbow Creek off to join Pine Creek. There are some scrambling trails around to try to get a good look at the waterfalls below here.

Then it's back to rolling along from lake to lake, this time with a tendency to climbing overall. I was aiming at the third crossing of Elbow Creek for my camp for the night.

113: watery basin — Just a random unnamed lake.

117: water among small rocky hills — The upper, smaller of Twin Lakes.

I passed a marmot sunning on a rock with its fur getting flipped up by the wind. I'd been missing their gentle threat to eat my gear, but they do live here.

118: rocky knob — A small knob of rock south of Sky Pilot Peak. More climbing to go.

120: thin canyon — An unnamed creek has a tight canyon through these glacial carved rocks.

121: lakes and rocks and green all over — About done with climbing for the day.

122: lake with islands — A lake only known by its elevation, 10756 feet, below Elbow Peak.

123: small lakes and a small bit of a big lake — Many small lakes up ahead with a little of massive Elbow Lake visible far ahead.

I was looking around for camp spaces but never saw something obviously used. When I got close to that last crossing of Elbow Creek, I just wandered off trail and found a few things with potential. There were breezes blowing, but not much. I wasn't sure how much shelter would be needed for the night weather. I ultimately went for a spot where I could move to shelter behind a rock if needed. I had a neighbor far on the other side of the trail, closer to the lake but still at a legal distance from both.

124: small bit of water under a lot of rock — Another bit of Elbow Lake below Elbow Peak below the moon.

125: lots of water — A lot of Elbow Lake, but it does extend further along the edge of Elbow Peak.

I decided to get water from the lake since Palmer Lake water was so much nicer than the inlet to Cutthroat Lakes. It wasn't quite so good. I found the old trail on the way back. It looks like it fell into the lake on the northwest corner and they reconstructed it much further from the water. Then I chatted with my neighbor a little and headed back to my camp for some eats and sunset.

127: reddened rocks — Alpine glow on Elbow Peak.

228: pointed reddened rocks — More alpine glow from camp.

It was a pretty good sunset.

same trip, next day ⇒

*Bridger 2022 photo album*

©2022 Valerie Norton
Written 16 Nov 2022

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