Return to the Mallard Larkins Pioneer Area - Part II

Previously on Part 1... I was back out with Dan and we were looking to complete a route that we had set out to do the previous year. We'd both forgotten our trekking poles on this trip and that was just the start of our troubles. We started from Sawtooth Saddle and hiked down the Surveyor's Ridge Trail to the Little North Fork of the Clearwater River. On our way down we both stepped off the trail and went down and Dan banged up his knee a bit. There were people in the campsite at the Trapper's Cabin so we pushed on to Larkins Creek and luckily found a campsite. The next day we pushed up towards Hart Pass and got off the trail from the start and ended up bushwhacking straight uphill to find it. The trail was brushy and when we hit a burn section we found ourselves bushwhacking again. We finally made it up to Mud Lake where we camped for the night. Now we were getting set for what should be the best views of the trip. Well good morning. Morning day three here from Mud Lake. Got a little precip overnight. Had to jump up about 4 a.m and throw the tarp up. Now all this brush is just soaked. Walking anywhere you're just soaked. Dan is already slaying the fish today. Caught two this morning but today we got a little more to go up to get on the ridge above Hart Lake. Get it going here in a bit. I was excited for the hike today. Today we would finish the climb up to Hart Ridge and then walk the ridge over past Hart Lake which is still one of my favorites. I was really looking forward to seeing those views again. To start the day. The day had started out pretty nice while we were back at camp but I couldn't help but notice the darker clouds moving in. Sign. Started sprinkling on and off as we made it around the shoulder of the mountain and started up towards Hart Pass. All of the brush along the trail was incredibly wet. Even with Dan cutting trail on point my legs were already completely soaked. As we got close to the top of the pass all of the clouds started to engulf us and the top of the mountain. I couldn't tell if it was the rain or just the mist from the clouds but either way I was getting soaked. Forgot how cliffy this is. As we made our way down from Hart Pass the rain picked up and we were given a few consolation views of Hart Lake. The trail down from Hart Pass is rocky and rough and with the wet conditions it was slow going. When Dan stepped off the trail on day one he banged up his knee a bit. The hike down from Hart Pass was really aggravating it and it was starting to give him some trouble. I've said it before and I'll say it again. Much of backpacking can be a mental game. If your mind is in the right place you can do amazing things but if you're struggling mentally it can make things so much harder. By this time I was completely soaked through from head to toe. Even my shoes felt like I'd walked through a creek even though I'd been on dry trail all day. I was starting to get cold and frustrated. All right well the weather's opened up and it's just pissing on us now. This section of trail has been great though. Nice reprieve from all the bullshit we've done to get here but we uh no views for us the way it goes on this one. We could have bailed out down to northbound lake and at the time I would have been fine with that. I knew that the only way for me to get warm was to get to camp and get into some dry clothes. Dan wanted to keep pushing on though and I'm glad he did. Once we pushed past the junction we were bound for Fawn Lake. Another tough day in the Mallard Larkin. Today is was supposed to be our views and we're getting them sort of. We missed all the views of Heart Lake but it's kind of it's hard to film and document it because right now I'm freezing and I am on the move because I'm cold and we might have three more three four more miles to Fawn Lake. Oh Dan's knee is giving him serious pain and so we're going to literally be limping into Fawn Lake. It's tough in the Mallard Larkin. Oh made it to Fawn Lake. Another brutal day of hiking over 10 miles. I forgot how hard the trail is into here. A lot more climbing than you think. Starting to rain I'm gonna get my tarp up. Well good morning from Fawn Lake. It is day four. Going home day. Already in the process packing up. I think we're gonna get a pretty early start here. I hesitate to even say this at this point but the outlook is favorable for this hike. The terrain should be in our favor and it should hopefully be the shortest one we've done on the trip and so far the weather's holding off so we'll see how it goes. It rarely goes as scripted in the Mallard Larkins. It's a tough hiking. What critical thing am I forgetting? Like trekking poles? Nah I got my tent. All right well we just left the junction. This is the last trail we'll be on. Should take us to the truck. I'm thinking four or five miles from here. All new trail from here. Let's go. All right we're just taking a break here. Four miles in cruising along this. We've been on a flat stretch here for I don't know half mile three quarters of a mile maybe. It's been great. Very unlike this place. All right well we're on the road walk and we should be ducking back into the woods here pretty quick. Almost got this one wrapped up. Dan is there anything you'd like to say to our viewers? There's beer in the truck. I won't lie there were times I had my doubts that we would do it but we were about to complete this route and it felt great. The Mallard Larkins tested us once again. It seems that I cannot get out of here unscathed. It was great to be hiking with Dan again. In the end he hiked around 17 miles on a bum knee using sticks as trekking poles that he found along the way. That guy is something else. I look forward to the next time we get out together.