Independence Mine Trail and Monument Peak, August 2015
So the Independence Mine trail south of Big Timber has been at the top of my "must drive" list for quite a long time, but I've never had the opportunity to explore it to it's end until now. I knew Lola could handle it, I knew there would be little to no snow, and I knew I wanted to get there. My fiancee had told me that the top of the trail was pretty spectacular, and the videos and photos I had seen of it backed that up. Then I saw the very first Expedition Overland episode, and saw that they did the trail. So I just had to do it.
My friend with the Baja wanted to see if he could make it as well, so we hit the road on Monday, bound for Big Timber. The drive was uneventful, and when I got there and fueled back up, I hand-calculated my mileage to be 18.05 mpg. That was pretty cool, seeing as how my 265s only got 18.5. That means I dropped a whopping 0.45 mpg with the larger and heavier 285s. From the gas station in Big Timber, we headed south until we were engulfed by the mountains. After about 30 miles, the tarmac ends. Then it's a rough and potholed dirt road for a further 20 miles or so. At the end of the dirt road, Independence Trail sits rather nondescript at the opposite end of a parking lot. Almost immediately, the trail is fantastic. Lots of water to cross, large rocky steps, and loose scree make the trail really fun. It's not really a challenging trail so much, but it is really fun. There are a couple challenging obstacles though.
The trail winds it's way up the sides of the Boulder River Valley to the old mining town of Independence. This town boomed from 1888 until 1893, when gold, copper, silver, and lead were discovered in the surrounding mountains. As such, there are old mining town ruins all over the area. Sadly, we were chasing the sun on both the trip up and down the trail, so we didn't get an opportunity to stop and explore the ruins this time. Guess we'll have to wait until next time
Sandragoon's little Baja was performing like a champ. It crawled up and over the obstacles pretty well, although there were times when the transmission got hotter than we would have liked. Otherwise, it was handling it beautifully. When we got about halfway up the trail, we noted the fuel level of his car and the time. His car was sitting right around 1/2 a tank, with Lola being slightly over 3/4 full. That's a problem. The other problem was time. At that point, it was 5 PM, and his car had to take the obstacles slower than I did. After a brief chat, we decided to leave the car parked near an abandoned cabin and finish the trail off with Lola.
The last two miles of trail presents you with the most challenging obstacles, including a couple spots where I needed a spotter. It really does get really rough. But Lola handled it well and we made it to the end without issue. We set up camp not far from Blue Lake and went about making dinner before turning in for the night. The fridge really proved it's worth here. I was so happy having cold but not soggy food.
The next morning the sun danced over the granite spires of Monument Peak and Haystack Peak. It was an awesome sight to behold, and it truly humbles you. The camp we had set up was at 9400 feet, and the surrounding peaks were at a nearly incomprehensible 10,500+ feet, well above the treeline. They look like cathedrals of granite rising from the wilderness.
I started my morning off with a little tea I like to brew when I camp.
Scout was having a great time as we watched our friend Austin make a few packets of oatmeal.
So after breakfast, we started to prepare for a hike we have been talking about for some time. You see, at the end of the trail is Blue Lake. Towering above Blue Lake is the very aptly named Monument Peak. Monument is a massive 10,995 feet tall, the tallest mountain for miles. And we wanted to stand at the top.
The hike is a little daunting. From our campsite, it's about a two mile hike one way. But, in that two miles, you go from 9,400 feet to 10,995 feet, often climbing over giant boulders of granite. So it's not the easiest thing in the world. We set off at around 11 AM, and made really great time. We hit the saddle around noon, finding a stunning view of the granite tower and Blue Lake below.
If you click on this picture and zoom in on it in the Flickr viewer, you can just see my friend standing in the top right corner. That gives you an idea of the scale. It's almost impossible to comprehend when you're standing there.
From there, the climb starts to get a little more sketchy. As the grass covered ground gives way to granite blocks and scree, it becomes very narrow and unforgiving. It becomes a lot of hand-over-hand climbing. The final stretch from the saddle to the summit takes an hour. Once you get to the top though, you are met with this view.
Here, standing atop this narrow pile of rocks scraping 11,000 feet in the sky, you really get a sense of how small you are and how big the world can be. The exhilaration of being at the summit floods in and you are just in awe. I'm fairly sure this is what the gates to heaven look like. The other thing you notice at the top is a piece of rebar stuck in the rocks at the highest point. About 10 feet away is a small metal box with the Forest Service insignia stamped into it. Open the box, and you'll find notebooks full of the writings of the people who have climbed this imposing peak, along with a few mementos. We wrote our names down in a book with the title "Conquerors of Monument", and let that sink in. Although many people have done this mountain before us, it gave us a real sense of accomplishment and the feeling of being a part of an exclusive club. It was a great feeling.
Also inside the box, we found this!
After a while on the summit, which included a couple phone calls (amazingly, you get service up there!), we headed back down the mountain and into camp. My legs felt like jello for the rest of the day, but I managed to haul myself to Blue Lake and snap some photos of what we had just overcome.
After evaluating our travel deadlines, it was decided that we would head back down the trail that afternoon and find a place to camp closer to the end of the trail. That way we could get home quicker the next day, as some of us needed to go to work on Wednesday. We very tiredly packed up the camp and made our way back down the trail.
On the way back, I was very tired and my nerves were a bit shot. All I wanted to do was get down. Well, I took a water crossing a bit faster than I should have, and this happened.
Lurking just under a pool of muddy water, a rather large rock reached out and gave my skidplate a good kicking. It's missing some paint and isn't quite straight anymore, but at least that rock didn't get to what is above that skidplate. The plate is still strong and secure, so I'm not going to worry about it much. I just need to remember to go a little slower next time
After that, we made it back down the trail without incident. We arrived back at the Baja, and discovered some good Samaritan had pored a quarter tank's worth of gas into the tank! Cool little surprise there. They must have seen the car and figured it was low or out of gas. After that little event, we made our way to a campsite near the start of the trail. We had another little chat and it was decided that we just felt like going home. Sandragoon was badly sunburnt, and we just didn't feel like setting up camp again. So we called it a day and drove back out of the mountains, and eventually made it home unscathed.
What a fantastic trip we had.
