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| Lake Helen is the first of the three lakes we encountered on our hike to Mistymoon Lake on this beautiful, warm day. I love being at the treeline, where trees are sparse and the sky is big and blue. |
How do you guys feel today? I ask as we prepare breakfast. "I feel much better. I think my headache was the result of not enough caffeine yesterday. I ate some caffeine gummies last night, which seems to have helped with the ibuprofen you gave me," says Aidan. That's good. Do you have enough caffeine to start the next few days on the right foot? Aidan shakes his head yes as I turn my attention to Daniel. And you? "I feel much better, too. I'm ready to see Mistymoon Lake," he says. We discussed our options and decided to hike to Mistymoon Lake and forgo hiking to Bomber Mountain.
All my nephews struggle with Attention-Deficit / Hyperactive Disorders (ADHD). My sister has done a fantastic job of helping her boys understand and manage this debilitating disease. Caffeine helps them manage their ADHD. Aidan and Daniel are old enough to manage their symptoms on their own. Yesterday, I overlooked ADHD as a potential cause of the headaches. Instead, I opted to play it safe by losing elevation. I'm happy they worked through the issue this morning and identified the potential cause.
I don't know how today will go. My goal is to continue to work through adversity with Aidan and Daniel. The rest will fall into place. As we pack up camp, we encounter our challenge. "I don't have my jacket. I left it in the car," says Aidan as he empties the contents of his backpack on the ground. Well, we are about 20 minutes from the car. Should we double back and grab it? I ask. After a short discussion, we decided to leave our backpacks and hike to the car with our day packs. I tell Daniel and Aidan that this is an opportunity to ditch things they don't want in their pack by leaving them in the car to lighten your load. About 40 minutes later, we returned to our campsite, grabbed our packs, which we had hidden in the nearby bushes, and headed up the trail.
The trail to Mistymoon Lake is a gradual incline that begins at 9,100 ft (2,774 m) and climbs to a maximum elevation of 10,334 (3,150 m). By returning to the trailhead, we turned the 5 mi (9 km) hike into a 7 mi (12+ km) jaunt.
To my surprise, we made the round trip in about 40 minutes. I tell the boys, Not bad! Leaving camp around 930 a.m. with our packs and Aidan's jacket, we should be at Mistymoon Lake early in the afternoon. Nicely done! 😁
By the time we reach our turnaround point from yesterday, I realize it is going to take us a lot longer then I expected. Unfortunately, 30-minute miles (1.6 km) is not reasonable with my nephews. Aidan is still struggling today, though he is in better spirits. I continue to check-in with them throughout the hike. I look at my phone when we reach Lake Helen, 3.6 m (5.8 km) from where we camped. Hmmm, it's almost 2 pm. We are averaging about 45 min to an hour per mile. I turn to Aidan and Daniel and say, let's find a shady spot, eat lunch, and rest a little before we make our way up.
"I'm sorry. I don't know why I'm struggling so much on this trip. I'm usually one of the first to reach camp when we go with the Boy Scouts," says Aidan. Beating yourself up does no good. What you accomplished in the past means nothing. We all struggle at times. You have a choice at that moment. Lean into the struggle and accept it. Or lean out and resist it. This is who you are at this moment, Aidan. Then, I shared my struggles with them when I got injured hiking the International Appalachian Trail in Ireland. Be kind to yourself and allow space to be who you are now, not who you think you should be in the future or who you were in the past.
Once we resume our hike, we are greeted by this yellow-bellied marmot.
The rest of the hike to Mistymoon Lake is scenic and hot. We've taken so long that we feel the full brunt of the sun pounding on us above the timberline. Aidan's struggles continue the rest of the afternoon. When we stop near Lake Marion again, I can tell the heat is getting to Aidan and Daniel. I'm here to spend time with you and backpack. I'll walk the same trail several times as long as I get to do it with you guys. If you want to turn around and head back, we can do that, I say. "No. I want to see Mistymoon Lake," says Aidan. "Yeah. There's no way I am not seeing this Lake. But Bomber Mountain will have to wait until next year," says Daniel. I laugh. Next year? Who knows where we'll be and how we'll feel. The time to see it was now.
Each time we stop, it is an opportunity for me to chat with my nephews, and I am enjoying it. Even though molasses flowing uphill in the winter time moves faster than we do on the trail. 😂 We finally reached Mistymoon Lake around 5:30 pm. We shed our packs and look over the area for a suitable place to make camp. I'm pleased that we made it here. However, Daniel and Aidan look defeated.
What do you guys think? Where should we set up camp? "This is so beautiful. I'm glad we finally made it," says Daniel. "Should we leave our packs here and walk around the lake to find a place to camp?" asks Aidan. The Lake is bigger than you think. How does the west side of the Lake look? I ask. "Yeah, we should carry our packs wherever we go," says Daniel. "Looks like there is a bench on the west side we could camp on," says Aidan. Alright. Grab your packs, and we'll go take a close look.
This view looks east towards Bomber Mountain (the flat mountain in the background). The blue tent below is our campsite.
"If I wasn't so tired, I would climb that nob over there," says Daniel at dinner. What's keeping you? I ask. "I am worn out from the hike today. I don't have it in me," he says. Alright, I am going for a walk. You guys will be okay here, I ask before leaving. "Where? I don't know yet. "We'll be fine," says Aidan, who is simply worn out. As I head north away from the tent, the stunning landscape reveals itself. I want to see more, especially the next basin to the north. I look up at the nob, and it calls my name. Ten minutes later, I am on top, enjoying the magnificent views. I can see Cloud Peak, the highest point in the Bighorn Mountains, at 13,171 ft (4,014 m). Cloud Peak is the domed peak in the center of the photo.
I descend back to camp and find Aidan lying down in the tent. Daniel soon comes over the hill from the south. "I think I found some puffball mushrooms, but I'm not sure," he says. Let's look. After a short hike up the hill, Daniel shows me the boulder where he's placed a few marshmallow-like mushrooms on top. I pick one up, grab my knife, and slice it in half. These are indeed puffballs. As long as they are perfectly white inside, they are edible. I cut a piece off, hand it to him, then take one for myself.
These puffballs have a taste that is similar to a concentrated store-bought white mushroom. "I found my first edible mushrooms," he says with a big smile. Nicely done, as I give him a high-five. 😁 I hand him another piece, this one a little larger. "But these aren't my favorite. They leave almost a chalky taste in my mouth," he says. Regarding wild mushrooms, puffballs are one of the blandest-tasting shrooms. I usually sautéed them and added them to my meals instead of eating them raw, I tell him.
We head back to camp to find Aidan, who's up and about. A few minutes later, as dusk falls, two big bull moose walk below our campsite. The moose are only about 100 yards (m) from us, but the lighting is so marginal that the picture turns out grainy. "It's cool to see them here," says Aidan. "This is a cool spot. I'm glad we made it all the way here," says Daniel. Moose are common in Idaho. I've enjoyed seeing many with my nephews on past trips. Nevertheless, I always enjoy having them around.
The three of us stay up watching satellites and identifying constellations in the sky. I love watching the stars and know my way around the night sky reasonably well. There is always a new one to learn. You guys know your night stars and constellations, I ask. "Not very well," says Aidan. "I know the Big Dipper," says Daniel. The best way to learn the sky is to find a constellation that you can always find. For me, it's Cassiopeia. It's the W in the northern sky, I say, pointing to it. The three of us spent the next hour learning the night sky before turning in.
"Let's get an early start tomorrow since we have a long drive home," says Aidan. How early do you want to start? "How about we get up at 6 am and start walking around 7 am?" he says. I'm good with that, but you two will need to make it happen. I'm not going to push you to get up. Does that sound good to you, Daniel? "Yeah. I'm good with that," he says.
As I turn in I reflect on what a great day we had. Although this wasn't the trip I had planned, I've enjoyed the time with my nephews and that is what matters most.
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