August 5, 2018 - Destination Mokawannis Lake
I did not sleep well at Stoney Indian Lake. Several factors contributed to this. The biggest factor was a very pesky deer which kept snooping around camp. Every time I started to dose off, I heard noises outside my tent near my pack. I finally got up and discovered the deer. I noticed that the deer was interested in my hiking poles and under further investigation one of my poles was missing. I had placed the poles under my pack to keep the critters from taking them but that didn't stop this deer. Once I discovered the missing pole I grabbed my remaining pole and moved it into my tent. Unfortunately the deer had already slimed it. It was really gross when I touched the handle.
Even after bringing my pole into the tent, the deer came back and was again making noise near my pack. So I finally decided to take the entire pack into my very small solo tent. The rest of the night I shared my sleeping pad with my pack. (I think it's time for a larger tent).
Other factors causing reduced sleep was snoring from one of my camp mates... I'm not sure which who it was but the snoring was enough to keep me up for a while.
Lastly, the rum at dinner also caused me numerous excursions to the restroom. I usually avoid drinking much after 5pm while camping for this reason. But the rum was hard to pass up.
In the morning I was able to find my stolen pole in the woods near my site. I was relieved that I didn't lose my pole. I had just bought a set last year and I didn't want to buy new ones again. Also hiking down the pass would be a lot easier with two poles rather that one.
After breakfast, Joyce, who happens to be a physical therapist helped me with the blister situation. Her new bandages really helped set the stage for a good hike and some healing.
The rest of the chatter crew had said their goodbyes and started heading west to Goat Haunt and I was just about ready to go when I looked down and saw a pair of sun glasses laying on a boulder. I decided I better take them with me to see if one of our group had left it behind. It turns out that I later found out it was Tina's and I was able to return it to her.
I then started on the 6 mile trek to Mokawannis lake. This is easy hike and the most difficult part comes at the very beginning with the climb up to Stoney Indian Pass from the shores of Stoney Indian Lake. It turned out that really wasn't too bad either!
I'd classify the rest of the hike from Stoney Indian Pass to Mokawannis lake as a stroll. It was very relaxed and didn't take very long even at a relaxed pace.
Short video taken on the way to down from Stoney Indian pass
https://photos.app.goo.gl/VmESi5DjTED5HoJE9
Below Stoney Indian Pass
I got to Mokawannis lake and no one was there. I setup up camp and then had some lunch. Mokawannis lake is very quiet when no one is around. It can get a little spooky at times.
Mokawannis Lake
After lunch I went back to my tent and not long afterward I heard some people in the food prep area. Later I walked down to the food prep and I found six guys there. They were already there for about hour and I was wondering what they were doing because there are only two sites at Mokawannis Lake and I had one them. So I knew they couldn't have permit for this site. So I asked them where they were the camping that night and they said "here". That's when I knew something was wrong. I told them that can't be possible since there were six of them and only room for four people in the one remaining site. So they finally fessed up and said they were supposed to be camping at Waterton River that night.
I told them that the remaining site will probably be filled so they will need to camp somewhere else. I also told them that if the rangers catch them poaching a site, they will be fined. Honestly I really get ticked off when people do this. I know many of us go through a lot trouble get a permit for these sites so when I see people who don't follow the regulations it riles me up. Anyway they ended up camping in the trees on the little peninsula area over looking the lake. They did seem to keep a clean camp and they weren't visible to the rest of the camp or trail for the most part.
After dinner we a spotted a bull moose across and as I was taking these pictures it crossed the lake to our side.
The moose crossed the lake to our side and headed up the hill behind my campsite. It bedded down about 40 feet up hill from my site. As I watched him, he watched me through trees. He sure made a lot of noise at first.
Later on I realized that I could have taken a nice video of the moose but I forgot about the video features on my camera.
I almost forgot to mention that in the middle of the afternoon I was in my tent reading when I heard what sounded like a bear cub whining to its mother as it ran by the camp site up trail. I couldn't get out in time to see if it was a bear or not but I heard whatever it was for a while as it ran up the trail calling out to it's mother. Mokowannis lake turned out to be a really wild kingdom that day!