Weasel Lake

Drainage: Clarks Fork (MT)
Approaches: Lady of the Lake Trailhead — 6.3 mi (4.5 on trail, 1.8 off-trail); 1,700 ft up / 200 ft down · From Stash Lake — ~0.25 mi south
Elevation: 9,991 feet
Fish: Yellowstone cutthroat (FWP)
Coordinates: 45.08843, -109.83581
Bugs: Minimal on our visit

Getting there

The standard approach begins 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 past Cliff Lake. From the upper end of Cliff Lake, leave the trail and climb the steep connecting inlet drainage [DIRECTION] to the high alpine bench.

We came a different way. Weasel came on the Day 3 move of a thru-hike that started at the Lady of the Lake Trailhead, roughly 6.45 miles out. A thru-hike takes two vehicles: we left one at the Clarks Fork end of the Beaten Path, drove to the Lady of the Lake Trailhead 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 Lake.

The hike

From Stash Lake it's about a quarter mile due south — flat, open walking across the high plateau. The two lakes sit at nearly the same elevation, and the ground between them is clear alpine sod and rock. Nothing technical, but the altitude and a full pack make it a steady pace rather than a fast one.

Tips & safety

• Fishing: FWP lists Yellowstone cutthroat.

• Navigation: No maintained trail through this upper basin. Continuous route-finding between the shelf lakes.

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