Pitamakin Dawson Pass Loop

Today I hiked a great hike that began at the North Shore Trailhead in Two Medicine Campground. I hiked with Jane and Karen and a few of Karen's friends. We hiked up to trail towards Old Man Lake. At Old Man Lake we began some serious climbing with great views of Old Man Lake and the mountain basin that surrounds it. At the top of the Pass we took a break to enjoy views of five lakes in the valleys around us. Then it was off on the last big climb of the the hike to the backside of the mountain. We had to cross one steep snowfield but there were well worn tracks in it making it not too scary. There we had views west of many snow covered peaks and a hanging glacier. We ridge walked from there. Afternoon thunderstorms were predicted but we started early and they were only just building. We crossed unnamed pass with views east and west and then on to Dawson Pass. It was truely beautiful. However, once at Dawson Pass we began to hear thunder and spotted lightening. We were still quite high and started down the trail. We encountered a number of hikers intending to do the ridge section of the loop. We let them know that the lightening had already arrived but they said no problem. That haunted me on my way down. Many people come to the wilderness afraid of wildlife but more people are killed by lightening than bears. The NOAA website states that there are approximately 50 fatalities from lightening strikes each year. There are on average three fatalaties from bears each year. OK done with that rant. We made it almost to lake level and then the skies opened and it poured rain and hailed. The trail turned into a wet muddy stream. However it wasn't freezing and we were moving at a pretty quick rate so we were not cold. By the time we reached the trailhead we were a sodden mess but the rain had stopped. We stopped in to talk to our friend, Lynn, who is a ranger. I asked her about the mountain lion that had caused a trail closure the prior week. Apparently it had been circling a hiker. That is kind of scary. Hike stats - 18 miles 4000 ft accumulated elevation gain