Weasel Lake

Drainage: Clarks Fork (MT)
Approaches: Lady of the Lake Trailhead — 7.5 mi, 6 on trail to Cliff Lake then roughly 1.5 mi off-trail east and 610 ft up

Elevation: 9,991 feet
Fish: Yellowstone cutthroat (FWP)
Coordinates: 45.08843, -109.83581
Bugs: Minimal on our visit

Getting there

The trail approach starts at the Lady of the Lake Trailhead. Follow the maintained trail past Lady of the Lake, take the lower fork toward the Sky Top Creek drainage, then turn up Sky Top Creek and follow the path to Cliff Lake, about four and a half miles in. The trail ends there as far as Weasel is concerned. From Cliff you climb roughly a mile and a half east-southeast and 610 feet onto the high bench, all of it off trail.

We came a different way. Weasel came on the third day of a thru hike that started at the Lady of the Lake Trailhead. A thru hike takes two vehicles. We left one at the Clarks Fork end of the Beaten Path, drove around to Lady of the Lake in the other, and started walking. After two nights at Splinter Lake we broke camp on the third morning and moved across the high shelf, coming into Weasel from the north by way of Stash.

The hike

From Stash it is a little under half a mile south-southeast, about twenty minutes of flat open walking across the high plateau. The two lakes sit within ten feet of the same elevation and the ground between them is alpine sod and rock. Nothing technical, but the altitude and a full pack make it a steady pace rather than a fast one.

Weasel is three acres at 9,991 feet. FWP lists Yellowstone cutthroat.

Surprise is another quarter mile east-southeast, which makes Stash, Weasel and Surprise three lakes inside two thirds of a mile. That stretch is the densest water on the whole route.

Tips & safety

• Navigation: no maintained trail reaches this bench. If you are coming up from Cliff Lake rather than across the shelf, that climb is unmarked ground with real elevation in it, and it is the hardest part of the trip in by a wide margin.

• Fishing: FWP lists Yellowstone cutthroat.

• Camping: Weasel sits at 9,991 feet on open alpine bench, above treeline, so there is no timber and no wind shelter. The ground is sod and rock. At three acres the shoreline is short, and Stash and Surprise are both within half a mile if you want options. We came through in the early afternoon on a moving day without scouting sites, so take this as terrain description rather than a report on what is available.

• Thru hike logistics: this is point to point, not a loop. Your ride has to already be parked at the exit trailhead.