The stats
3 nights
~7.3 miles one-way
2.8 miles to Snowmass Creek crossing
4.5 miles after crossing up Bear Creek
Starting elevation: 8,400'
Big lake elevation: 12,186'
Pictures in report: 158
Satellite image of Pierre Lakes. Campsites indicated by red dots. (click to enlarge)
Pierre Lakes topo (click to enlarge)
Pierre Lakes 360 (click to enlarge—1 MB). I think this will give you the best sense of this place, where the larger size allows you to visualize yourself there.
Preface
Welcome to the premier source of information, written and pictorial, for Pierre Lakes, Maroon Bells-Snowmass Wilderness!
Pierre Lakes basin (small b, as the basin isn't officially named) is an amazingly beautiful location, and the only basin of its kind in Colorado in that it is all rock. Measuring about 1.2 by .9 miles, and made up of nothing but white talus, it is a scene you could easily mistake for being in California's mighty Sierra Nevada. That is enough to get any mountain-lover or photographer's attention. I had seen plenty of images of the basin from those who summit Capitol Peak from the north side, but hadn't really thought about how amazing it would be also right in the middle of it until recently. Here is a great 360-degree picture from Capitol by Bill Middlebrook. Pierre Lakes is a place that has only been on my radar to visit since around 2006 when my co-worker and friend, Tad Bowman, started talking about wanting to visit there. It was on both of our schedules for 2008, but he ended up with West Nile Virus from an earlier summer outing, so we had to postpone it a year. Ideally, I wanted to visit here in the first week of September, as our daily mountain thunderstorms are pretty much wrapped up for the season by then, but I settled for a week or so earlier to fit Tad's schedule.
Prior to our trip, we scoured the Web for any bits of information about the route we could find, for there is not an official trail leading up to it, thus it is a rarely visited location and documented on the Web even less. We knew the trail would come and go along the route based on other reports, but we still anticipated quite a bit of bushwhacking, namely around the waterfall, and probably other route-finding struggles. Based on all the virtual total lack of any information about the route or basin, we figured this place would see only a few visits a year. Imagine, then, our surprise when we found there to be a pretty well-established trail most of the way up. It does fade in and out on a number of occasions, but most of the time, you just follow your nose, and before long, you'll pick it up again, even if it's faint. The main exception being around the waterfall.
The trip
Armed with not a whole lot of information to go on, there's only one way to see what the route is like—just get out there and do it. So, we did. The night prior, we left work and headed for Maroon Lake for a sunrise shot, as there isn't anything to shoot at sunrise from near the trailhead. We also knew that since we were planning to camp roughly halfway up the route along Bear Creek, we didn't need to be in any real hurry getting started in the morning. After shooting a nice sunrise at Maroon Lake, we headed down the highway to Snowmass Village, then down the forest road to the Maroon-Snowmass Trailhead. We packed our gear and started up the trail at 10:52 AM. We were on our way and full of fresh enthusiasm for what we'd be about to experience on this trip.
The trail starts with a little bit of an uphill section gaining 240 feet of elevation in the first half-mile. After this, it is an easy level walk through aspen forest all the way to where we'd depart the trail near the confluence of Snowmass Creek and Bear Creek three miles in. The trail continues on 5.3 miles to Snowmass Lake. One of the relative common hurdles that is talked about on the Pierre Lakes route is the initial crossing of Snowmass Creek, as in where to do it. We weren't sure what we were going to find, in terms of if the creek is deeper than other common water crossings, also if it is faster, or what exactly. After all, being that it was discussed, there must be a reason that it's a topic to begin with, right? Anyway, based on what we gathered in our research, it sounded like you should cross near the Snowmass and Bear creek confluence. So, that was our initial goal. Once we started nearing the confluence, we looked down to the river in the fairly limited openings, but nothing stood out as an overwhelming option to cross. At the confluence area proper, we decided to have a go at it after we backtracked a bit, as the spot we came to seemed as good as anything. It wasn't ideal in that there was quite a bit of brush right at the access point along the first stream crossing. I honestly don't know if it was Snowmass Creek that we crossed, then Bear Creek, or if it was simply Snowmass Creek running in two channels at this area. Both crossings were the same depth coming up to about mid to upper-calf. As expected, and is always the case, the water was rather cold (almost numbing in our very brief exposure), as after all, it originates from a mountain called Snowmass. At the exit point, we had to ascend a bit of a steep rocky incline of about twenty feet which was a little tricky for me and my strapless foam sandals on slippery wet feet, but it was easy enough. Once we got on top to level ground, hunger sat in, and we found some nearby rocks to sit on and enjoy a short lunch break and to dry our feet. We were still in an aspen forest for a ways at this point with an open grassy forest floor—no trees to hurdle over or brush to wade through. We packed up our bags to finally start the crux our journey where we started walking south off the west shore paralleling the stream, which would have been Bear Creek at this point. We couldn't see it, but could hear it. I would say we picked up a well-worn trail within about five minutes, which was unexpected.
The trail continues on through aspens where it finally arrives at Bear Creek and starts to gain elevation as you turn southwest up the watershed. The trail ascends some and levels out a bit as you cross a meadow, then starts uphill again as you enter pine and fir. After the relatively short evergreen forest section, you come to the first of many talus slopes on the way, and eventually the first view of the signature waterfall reveals itself further ahead. The trail continues to be established and even cairned in the talus up until the very last few hundred feet or so approaching the waterfall where we couldn't see where the trail went. I was surprised we made it this far as easily as we did without any challenges. We knew the waterfall was the signature point along the whole route as this is where bushwhacking and climbing has been mentioned in other accounts. We look further ahead on the same level course we were traveling, but couldn't pick up a sign of a trail. We should have looked harder and longer as it turns out. So, after not seeing any trail continuing on to the waterfall, I get the brilliant idea that I think I see a fairly obscure archway opening in some willows immediately to the trail's north. After all, there is supposed to be bushwhacking along here somewhere, and it must start now, right? So, we enter the thick willows and go about twenty feet before coming to a more open section that doesn't scratch you every inch of the way, and we end up coming out into a rock gully that leads up a rocky gulch to the north that parallels the shelf the waterfall sits on. You can see this gulch from the trail as well.
We start walking up this gulch not knowing how to get atop the shelf above the waterfall where we knew the trail resumes. About this point, Tad starts feeling pretty nauseous and sick and worsens the further up we go. This uphill is hurting him with all the exertion and the heavy load. We slowly make our way up big slabs of rock (some lose, some slick with water running over them) as the gully enters its canyon stage. I think we need to try to go to the top where there appears to be an opening, where we could then hopefully cut back to the southwest heading back in the direction of the waterfall. We spent a lot of time in here. Tad talked better sense into me to try a different route as it was getting more dicey the further up we went, and he is really struggling at this point. He thinks his symptoms are altitude sickness-related that flare up from time to time. This is not the place to be feeling like this. We hadn't been at a suitable place to camp for quite awhile, and our goal was to camp somewhere above the waterfall. I wasn't sure if he was going to be able continue, or how our trip might develop from here. He was up for pressing on, so we did. We tried heading up to into some extremely tall and thick brush off to the left (west) of the gully, but ended up having to turn around about twenty feet in as there didn't seem to be any way through. While we were exiting here, Tad ended up bending a trekking pole pretty badly. Thankfully, it was aluminum and he was able to bend it back mostly straight and was able to use it for the rest of the trip. If it were carbon fiber, as mine are, it would have snapped. We descend down the gully just a short ways where Tad earlier saw another potential route. It was more open and we were thankfully able to use it. It ended up coming up to a rock section, and after a few four-to-five foot shelf sections, the last one of which we had to use the aid of an aspen sucker to help pull ourselves up onto the ledge, we finally make it to normal ground. We head back in the direction where we believe the trail to be back to the south and end up picking up a cairn and the trail, which was a very welcome sight after spending about two hours and fifteen minutes making almost no progress. As a side note, on return trip back down, I think this route we took up is probably easier, now that we know where it is. Going down could be difficult on the aforementioned rock section in one particular spot, but we didn't spend much time scouting all of our options to know if there were other possible routes. My guess is that there is. Anyway, it was good to know about this option for future visits.
So, back on the main trail, we start heading uphill. We lost it it at one point, but after a moment of searching around, we pick it up again and continue. On the way up the hill, the sun is setting back to the east on Willoughby Mountain, so I walk over to an opening and unpack the camera and take a few shots. A few minutes later, we found the first level spot since well before the waterfall in a really nice part of the forest near Bear Creek where we knew we had to take advantage to set up camp, for we didn't know how many options were going to exist in the immediate area. This site worked out very well. We unpacked our gear and set up the tents. I took a couple shots along the stream and then we cooked our meals. Tad felt substantially better after getting food and water back in his system. We weren't in any hurry to get out in the morning, as we weren't in any position to shoot sunrise, so we knew we would have a good night's sleep being able to sleep in.
Morning came. I slept really good, which I usually do. It felt so good to sleep in. We weren't in any real hurry to leave and Tad was wanting to shoot a section of the stream he found when we arrived, but the minimal clouds that formed only covered the sun briefly preventing any good shots. We would stop by here on the return trip to photograph along here. We eventually got everything packed up and we started up the trail. Within about ten minutes, we came to an even better campsite, complete with a fire ring, and it has a great view out to the west of Snowmass Mountain. If we only knew about this the previous night, we possibly would've had a fire; we would've certainly enjoyed the views. Oh well. Next time.
Just past this campsite at the edge of the trees, it enters a talus section, which is well-cairned. Essentially, you stay level and re-enter the vegetation past all the willows on the other side. The trail carries on being well-defined. The next step is arriving at the Bear Creek split-off. The trail isn't right next to Bear Creek for quite a ways before reaching the split, and it actually ends up hitting the north fork of Bear Creek first. You actually turn to the right and cross over the north fork which runs under a talus section where you'll pick up a cairn and the trail for re-entry into the forested section. This is better explained and visualized in the picture section. Immediately after the stream crossing at the aforementioned cairn, the trail goes up steeply for a little ways before leveling off to a degree. This is the start of a rocky ridge that you'll stay atop of for a half-mile and 600 feet of elevation gain taking it all the way up to where the trail will veer down off of to the northwest. I think there was only one spot where we lost the trail about a third or midway up, but found it within a couple minutes again after looking around. Right before we get off this ridge, we sit down for some lunch. At this point, we're just a short ways below the basin shelf with one more main uphill section to go.
After a bite to eat, we headed up the amazingly well-defined trail which parallels the north fork of Bear Creek. There were a couple really nice pool sections along the stream a little further up, and along one of the banks, some lingering dried up wildflowers that would have probably been neat a month prior. We continued to follow the stream and we weren't sure how far to take it, or where to cut up to the west to get into the basin proper. The stream's source is the northeastern lake, but we didn't want to head there first even though we knew it would lead us in the right place. We preferred to head right into the middle of the basin.
We ended up leaving the trail and headed for a low point in the rock shelf above. While walking on the big rocks wasn't difficult, it was time consuming. There were about three false plateaus where we thought we were going to be able to see across the basin, but we had to keep going up over more rock to get any sort of a view. And then, when the view did open up, we still couldn't see any bodies of water, which was surprising. We headed in a southwesterly direction towards where we thought we'd end up on the eastern shore of the big lake. Well, even after checking our course on the GPS, we ended up in the southern basin overlooking the start of Bear Creek's south fork. But wait a minute—what the heck is a tent and a bivy sack doing down below?! You've got to be kidding me! Of everything we thought we'd see in the basin, signs of other humans was the last thing I thought we'd see. I was immediately depressed a little bit as I was hoping and expecting we'd have the whole place to ourselves. However, maybe it shouldn't have been that surprising given the mostly established trail all the way up. I suspect this is a far more common sight than most anyone realizes in the summer, especially given all of the adventurers out there. A few paces from this overlook, the big lake came into view to our north where we're just above its southern shore. In the afternoon light, the lake was a stunning shimmering emerald color. The lake was a lot bigger than I anticipated. We finally knew we had made it to this wonderful place.
So now that the lake is in clear view, it's time to check out possible photo perches along its shore, and perhaps most importantly, to find a campsite in this sea of rock! I honestly didn't know if there was going to be any tundra in the basin going into this, but we found a few small patches of green during our initial walk in. We found a spot that would've easily allowed for one tent off the south shore, but two was impossible as there wasn't enough level ground. We ended up walking along the shore until we found the main cove that would provide the quietest water for a sunrise reflection. We then walked just under ten minutes to the east to a point we marked on the GPSs on the way in for a potential camp near a seasonal tarn. Turns out there was enough room for two tents, which was very reassuring, as we knew our options would be very limited. Of course, we didn't want to have to make a long walk to go to shoot sunrise, so it really worked out perfectly. After we set up our tents, we walkded north to see the two northeastern lakes where we stayed for awhile and shot sunset. Viewing through Heckert Pass to the south, along the elongated North Snowmass ridge, is a view of North Maroon Peak, which is pretty cool. I had only run across one shot on the Web that pictured this, but we didn't know which part of the basin it would be visible from. Tad felt a bout of sickness really coming on again, and again I was concerned with the situation enough that I didn't feel good or right about taking the camera out to shoot some pretty intense earth shadow colors in case I had to lend a head, or whatever else. After sunset, we returned to camp, cooked supper, and like the last night, he felt a bit better after he ate. We turned in for the night.
Morning came, and we headed over to the lake shore for sunrise, though unfortunately, there wasn't a cloud in the sky. The dawn light was intense, as was alpenglow with its striking orange and blue combination. We stayed here until the sun lit up to where we were. During this time, two hikers came around the shore from the south side on their way up one of the peaks. I suspect these were the owners of the tents we saw along the outlet when we arrived the previous day. They somehow didn't even see us until Tad said something to them when they were about thirty feet away. Thankfully, this was the only other human interaction we had and the last we saw of them.
The temperature was steadily warming, and by midday, was rather warm. Not being motivated for much further exploration of the basin, namely to the other main place to check out, which is the upper northern lake that sits on a shelf a few hundred feet higher, we head back to camp and essentially wait for sunset. The temperature reaching into the 80s, and the heat radiating off all of the rock is energy-zapping. Tad decides to try to have a go at trying to come up with a way to build a shelter from the sun. So, using our four trekking poles, two tripods, and a tent rainfly that backs up against a flat-walled rock which to sit back on, we came up with something that kept us cool, which I must say, worked very well. We rested here awhile in the cool shade during the heat of the day. Though napping would've been ideal, our sitting spot wasn't quite that conducive, and the tents were way too hot inside to lie down. At one point while relaxing inside of the shelter, a gust of wind came up that blew Tad's tripod over into the back of his head! He almost went down for the count, but was left only with a bruised ego to his engineering skills—and to his head.
Later in the afternoon, we headed over to a high point to the south of camp that provided us with my favorite view of our trip. It was elevated high enough to provide a visual overview of most of the basin. This is where the 360-degree picture was taken from above. This was definitely a highlight of the trip for me. Going into this, I figured the basin was going to be relatively flat, and to a degree I guess it is, but there are a number of small mounds that limit views to everything, so I found this spot very rewarding. The higher mound where we shot the previous sunset was good as well above the northeastern lakes, but we didn't go all the way to its top. I'm confident views from the upper lake offer the best overlook, but unfortunately we didn't take the time to get there on this trip. We would have if we were here one more day.
We had three nights scheduled to be up in the basin for three attempts at a good sunrise, and Tad's mind was made up that he wanted/needed to head down the next day given the remoteness of the place. He wasn't feeling as bad as he did during the last two evenings at this time, but still wasn't feeling normal. I was in a tough dilemma when we were back at camp trying to decide whether to go or stay the third day; he wanted me to stay and enjoy my time. On one hand, you can't just leave a partner on their own somewhere if they just aren't feeling well, especially given our location, though he said he'd be fine going down. The other thing is I necessarily didn't want to be in the basin by myself, for if you take one misstep on any of the rocks, you could do a number on an ankle and be in a pickle. In addition, I had some doubts on the route back down, in terms of being confident in where to go, and though I recorded some waypoints on my GPS, they were few and far between. Still, I was going back and forth, and almost decided I'd stay because I really wanted to maximize my time here. However, what we both needed was a successful sunrise shoot with good clouds. That would mean we would get what we came here for, and would feel plenty satisfied with our time after only two mornings. We'd have to wait and see how it would turn out.
The second morning in the basin was very promising when we first looked out of the tents in the dim light. There were clouds above the peaks! OH YES! Seeing that woke me up. A most welcome sight, but anything could change quickly before the sun actually makes its way up, which it often does. We get over to our positions on the big lake's shore again with plenty of time to spare. There was a fairly thin cloud layer off to the east just above the horizon. Time would tell how things would light up. The dawn light got more impressive and as intense of a red on mountains as I've ever seen pre-sunrise, which was undoubtedly contributed by their light coloring to reflect any hue from the east rather easily. The sun continued to near the horizon and we were oh so close to having a monumental sunrise with pink and red clouds overhead. As it was, only a very few smaller clouds turned colors slightly as the cloud bank off to the east prevented the sun from shining that high up. Dang it! Well, it was still a very awesome sunrise, and I always love dark blue-gray clouds with lit up peaks, which was what we were given. The clouds stayed quite awhile and we were taking as many pictures as we could. This event ensured our trip was a successful one, as that is what we were after. There are very few good pictures that have been taken here, or at least published, and we could now add ourselves to the very short list. I've only seen quality pictures from three authors.
After the clouds started to dissipate and the light got more harsh, we headed back to camp to have a bit to eat and started to pack up. More cool clouds built up again over the peaks. We got everything packed up, and I know for me it was tough to say goodbye to this special place. I must return! We headed down the rocks and aimed toward the north fork where we'd rejoin the trail. We descended a route we should have came up, but now we know for the future. We make a lot quicker time getting out of the basin than we did coming up, that is for sure. It certainly held true for the rest of the way as well. Knowing where we came up, we had no problems whatsoever on the return trip, and the only question would be where the trail is located at the waterfall, or how we navigate that stretch.
Along the half-mile-long, rocky ridge section about two-thirds the way down before we reach the Bear Creek confluence, we come across a small unopened box of chardonnay and a topo map of the area that had been slightly chewed by a rodent. They were left on a downed tree. A bit odd to come across to say the least and a weird combination! We weren't sure if the person or people who left these items were taking a side trip down to the south fork, or if they forgot these here, or what. I was in the process of picking the items up to free the area of possible trash, but Tad made me think better of it in case the people re-traced their steps to retrieve them later.
We eventually get down to the waterfall, and we pick up a cairn that marks the trail where you need to go down. We also found where we had cut over from on the way up. This section definitely had its moments of slight struggle and was fairly slow going. There are perhaps about five drops or so that you have to climb or slide down. On a few of them, one of us would go first and lower our bag to the other guy. One in particular was slicker than the rest with lose dirt over rock, and a rock or two that we needed for support were loose. We ended up making it down no worse for the wear, though Tad did end up banging his shin at one point. It's usually easier going up on steep uphills than down, so perhaps now knowing where the trail goes, we would try this first. It's tough to say if this would be any easier going down than the route we used going up. I do believe our initial route would be easier going uphill versus the trail. It took us 45 minutes getting down off of this section to the base of the falls, and once there, we headed left and paralleled Bear Creek again. After the initial talus slope crossing, we somehow lost the trail even with waypoints we marked on the way up, but we basically stayed on a level plane paralleling the stream. We eventually picked it up again at the exit of another talus section perhaps 400 feet or so later. This was really the only time I can recall that we didn't see the trail for the whole duration going down. From here on out, it is straight forward.
Lower down, we re-entered the aspen forest and started the turn to the north. We continued past where we made our initial Snowmass Creek crossing on the way up. We must have been a little to far to the inside toward the creek when we went up in this stretch, as we did not pick up the trail for a little ways. We crossed the trickling Copper Creek tributary and continued further down. We ended up coming to wide open point along Snowmass Creek where we couldn't pass up. It looked like an ideal place to cross. The trail continued heading north on the west side of the creek and we have no idea where it leads or how far it goes; perhaps to another creek crossing. We took off our shoes and put on our water crossing sandals. We crossed the stream and found an entry/exit trail on the other side that fed right into the main Maroon Snowmass Trail. People have either crossed here in the past, or simply thought it is a good section of river to simply drop down to for whatever reason. We carried on down the trail in sandals for a ways before drying our feet the rest of the way and putting our shoes back on. Tad had some blisters that were coming alive by this point, so we took the rest of the way slow and easy. We finally arrived back at the trailhead seven hours and twenty minutes after we started, which included about an hour stop to take pictures along Bear Creek. The rest of the conclusion can be found at the end on page four.
Maroon Snowmass Trailhead
10:53 AM — Heading out
Looking west across Snowmass Creek early on
Snowmass Creek
Entering wilderness. I see Tad's pack, but I think he's in here somewhere, too!
Through aspen and pine
Looking up the broad pinnacled slopes of Willoughby Mountain to the east
1:24 PM — After going uphill and upstream a few hundred feet, we come back down and figure we'd try to cross in this area, part one of our Snowmass Creek Crossing near, or possibly at the confluence with Bear Creek. This pictured section was just overflow from the main river channel, which lies behind the trees.
Part 2 of our Snowmass Creek crossing. Their was a bit of brush to gain the initial entrance, as seen here, and it's definitely not the ideal place to cross. It wasn't difficult by any means, just not ideal. It would be best to cross earlier down the trail near the 8,960' contour (pictured on the last page). Click to load KMZ file to view in Google Earth. And if you don't already have it, here is a USGS topo overlay for Google Earth.
Part 3. Once we crossed here, we ascended the fairly steep hill on the upper left where the light is shining. I'm honestly not sure if this is Bear Creek or a second channel of Snowmass Creek.
2:09 PM — After a lunch break and after the stream crossing, we follow a pretty well-established trail through the forest
2:29 PM — The trail finally comes to Bear Creek, which is now visible in the lower left, and starts the turn to the southwest. The trail is very well established along this section for a good ways.
Bear Creek
Looking back to Willoughby Mountain
Along Bear Creek
Looking back down the valley from which we came
Bear Creek a little further up
Willoughby Mountain again . . .
. . . and again. It really is a fine looking mountain!
3:11 PM — The signature Bear Creek waterfall finally comes into view
Even at this small size, you can make out the worn trail through the talus
Looking back down
More talus, which was a pretty constant theme of the trip
Nearing the waterfall
3:27 PM — Somewhere right around here we couldn't distinguish the trail any longer, and not ever having been here before, we didn't know if the trail cut to the right here, kept going further up, or where. On the return trip, we now know the trail goes through the shiny patch of rock just to the right of the waterfall, then off to the right at the base of the wall along the cut.
But first, one more look back
It doesn't show up well at this size, but after not seeing a trail to the falls, I get the bright idea that this might be it as it looked like a somewhat-worn archway through the trees. So, in we go.
4:01 PM — After going through some tight brush, we end up here. I think we need to ascend this gully and hope we pick up the trail again. We ended up going up quite a ways and between the two walls in the center where there is a narrow and very rocky channel that is slick in places. Tad was feeling quite nauseously sick at this point. He thinks he occasionally gets various degrees of altitude sickness. Not feeling comfortable with our situation, unfortunately, I didn't feel up to taking too many pictures during this stretch.
6:01 PM — Would you believe it, two hours later, we're still struggling up this very same gully, and Tad struggling to go uphill with a heavy load in his condition, he finally sees this opening after one or two unsuccessful attempts through very thick brush just a little further up. We figure it's our best bet to go uphill to try to regain the trail. No telling if it was going to work, though. This section lies somewhere in the previous frame. We ended up going through a few decent climbs on the pictured light rock section. One particular area could be a bit tricky coming down with some slipping potential, but going up, I feel this is actually much easier than where the trail actually goes. We had to pull on a tiny aspen sucker to lift ourselves up on one ledge. There are probably other doable routes in here as well. Tad would be inclined to follow the trail on another trip back, and I suppose I would be apt to try it as well, but this isn't a bad option.
6:27 PM — Finally above the falls and back on the well-established dirt trail, I photograph Willoughby Mountain at sunset from a few minutes below our would-be campsite for the night
Willoughby Mountain sunset
Bear Creek from a few paces from our camp
Our camp the next morning after we pack our tents up. You can kind of make out the Bear Creek channel in the center running down to the left. This site is immediately off the trail.
11:09 AM — Taken about 10 minutes up the trail from our campsite, little did we know there was a spectacular campsite at the edge of the trees where this is taken from. I have it pictured on the return trip as there was too much contrast on this go-around. Pictured here is the 14,092-foot summit of Snowmass Mountain just to the left of the unofficially named North Snowmass, which is the prominent point.
A wider view
Another talus slope after just leaving the campsite. There are a number of cairns along this stretch, but ultimately, you stay on the rocks just above the willows and parallel them until you pick up the trail again.
The aforementioned campsite lies in the trees just behind where the rocky slope comes to a point
Picking up the trail again
Looking up to Heckert Pass
12:02 PM — This is taken just after Bear Creek splits. This is the right (north) fork. Though you can cross the stream here, and I did initially, the trail stays on this side of it right until it bends just off-frame on the right. You then cross it and pick up a cairn and trail re-entry on the opposite side that leads up a steep dirt incline (pictured on the way back down).