Lake Aries

Drainage: Stillwater
Approaches: Goose Lake Jeep Trail — 3.1 mi, all off-trail; 823 ft up · From Anvil Lake — about 1 mi north, steep

Elevation: 9,547 feet
Fish: Brook trout (FWP)
Coordinates: 45.11244, -109.96653
Bugs: Minimal on our visit

Getting there

Getting to the start is half the trip. The Goose Lake Jeep Trail needs an ATV, an off-road buggy or a genuinely capable off-road vehicle. Nothing standard will make it.

Your driving ends at the turnaround near the Goose Creek waterfall, where you park and shoulder packs. Just before the trail ends near the falls, look for a hard right that points you north. That is where the walking starts.

Park with the marten in mind. They are active in this basin and they chew wires and cables underneath parked machines. That is a risk to your ride home.

From the turnaround it is 3.1 miles to Aries, all off trail, with 823 feet of climbing.

The hike

It is steep right off the bat. The climb out of the Anvil basin starts immediately and it is the hardest sustained ground anywhere on this bench. You are route finding the whole way up with no tread to follow.

Once you top out the grade relaxes and you arrive straight at the shore of Aries. That transition is the useful thing to know: this climb is the price of admission for the entire bench, and Aries is the first thing you get for it. Sourdough is a couple of minutes further north, Spider and Fly beyond that, and Courthouse at the top. None of them asks anything like this hill again.

Aries is 6.2 acres at 9,547 feet, the first of four brook trout lakes on this bench. FWP lists brook trout. We fished it and did not catch anything.

Anvil, a mile back down, works as a basecamp for the whole basin.

Tips & safety

• This climb is the whole difficulty of the bench. If you can get up it, everything above is easy walking.

• Navigation: everything past Wall Lake is unmaintained. The climb from Anvil is complete route finding up the ridge.

• Weather: high country with nothing to break a front. Come prepared for sustained cold rain rather than a passing shower.

• Fishing: FWP lists brook trout. We did not catch any. Spider, half a mile north, is the largest brook trout water up here.

• Camping: Aries sits at 9,547 feet at the lower end of the open bench, which makes it the most sheltered of the four bench lakes, though there is still no timber. At 6.2 acres there is a reasonable amount of shoreline. Anvil a mile below is the better camp if you want cover.