Elk Meat and Dirty Water: Lessons Learned the Hard Way in the Bitterroot Mountains

Once every 15 minutes or so, I’d have to stop walking and puke my guts out on the side of the trail. I was feeling pretty darn sick and I still had about five miles to hike before I made it to the Little Rock Creek trailhead and back to the road that skirted the edge of Lake Como. When I had started my hike the prior evening I was filled with excitement and adrenaline. The surrounding snowcapped mountains of the Lonesome Bachelor, El Capitan, and the Como Peaks, stood with magnificent beauty in the evening light. But now, through a pair of eyes blurred with tears from constant vomiting, the surrounding Bitterroot Mountains appeared daunting and harsh. All I could think about was getting the hell out of that rocky valley and back to my bed. This was a solo backpacking trip I wouldn’t soon forget.

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