RMNP East Border to East Deep Lake via J.E.T - Day 3

Date - May 21, 2018
Length - 17.1 km
Elevation - 238 m
Time - 5 hours 25 minutes

AllTrails map of the trip out on Day 3

Day 3 started bright and early, with the two of us waking up at 6 am with the plan to have everything packed up and ready to go by 7 am. We got dressed, packed up and emptied the interior of the tent, then Roslyn began breakfast while I packed up the tent. Once the tents were packed I started filtering water again to make sure we were topped off for the hike out.

Packing up the tents while Roslyn makes breakfast

Our fuel canister was getting low on fuel and it was pretty windy so boiling water for breakfast took longer than expected, as did getting everything washed up and packed in the first place. By the time we were ready to go it was 7:45 am. A bit of a late start, but it was our first time and we are sure we'll get better at it.

We started the hike out and about 15 minutes into it we hear what sounded like trees knocking together, or antlers knocking on trees. We slowed down and were expecting to see an elk or deer walking through the close trees in the area, but we were surprised by a bear cub popping out of the trees about 30 feet from us instead! We looked around for momma bear and started shouting "Hey, bear". Momma bear wasn't around so we backed up about 30 feet and waited for the bear cub to run off. Be next kilometer was more of the close in trees with a few blind hills, so we took it slowly until we were about a kilometer past the bear siting.

The trip out was much more green than the trip in, which made it pretty interesting to walk through in comparison. All of the tree tunnels were roofed so it kept the sun off and the buds and flowers that were coming out were pretty.

On the way out we stopped at the lookouts to see the view.

Panorama looking out from the North Lookout

Looking west from the North Lookout

Looking east from the North Lookout

In the picture looking west from the North Lookout you can see a few hill slides on the edge of the valley. It turns out they all hit Packhorse trail, which is why it was closed. We are very glad we didn't try to take the trail after seeing them.

Looking east from the South Lookout

Panorama from the south Lookout

In Roslyn's words:

We tried to do a fast tear down in the morning, but with it being our first time doing this back country, it took a little longer than we would have liked. I'm sure this will improve with time as we get more and more familiar with gear and our roles. It definitely wasn't a dull morning walk out of camp as we ran into a bear only about 1 km out of camp. It looked like maybe a 1 year old cub with no mama in sight. We responded as one is supposed to, make noise and back up slowly. It really did not want anything to do with us, typical of a little black bear, so we got back to hiking pretty quickly.

It was absolutely amazing how much the forest had changed in the 2 days since we came in. There were tons of leaves on the trees which made for some really nice intermittent shade. There were flowers blooming on some trees, and the park just seemed more alive. Yay spring! We took the time on the way out to hit the two lookouts we skipped on the way in and my goodness was the extra 2 km worth it. The north lookout is perfect for a lunch break on the way out. There is some solid shade and clear shale ariea to through down at. Just be careful not to drop anything off the cliff or let your water bottles roll down the hill. It is very steep.  When you go to the south lookout, make sure you walk along the shale, it is questionable whether or not there is an actual trail there, but when you round the corner, you can see bald hill very clearly.

The last km hurt but the promise of DQ was a definite will booster. Over all the trip was just amazing. I has 100% confirmed that I really do enjoy backpacking. I will definitely take the cold nights, sore feet, blisters, bugs for the smell of the forest, seeing the colours of the plant life, watching the wildlife, gazing at the stars, and the feeling of being in the middle of nowhere.

With our first real backpacking trip out of the way, we have determined that we need to use a checklist, look into a better water filter, and that backpacking is definitely for us! We also need to look into a lighter tent and bringing less food to help cut down on weight.

All in all the trip was amazing, and we can't wait to do more!