Below are the photos I took while hiking 14 miles roundtrip (7 out and back) to “Black Canyon Lake” (elevation 9,400') in Montana's Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness.  Ten miles (the first and last 5 miles) were on a well-defined trail and I was able to cover ground rather quickly (the first 5 miles I did in just under 1 hour 20 mins including a plethora of photo stops).  Mile 6-10 was very, very challenging, both physically and mentally as the trail ceased to exist and things got very, very steep.  If bushwhacking, scrambling over boulders, and scaling rock edges isn't your thing I'd suggest you pass on this hike! The first 5 miles of the the trail run parallel to Lake Fork Creek: A portion of the trail is foot and horse travel though mountain bikes and motorized vehicles are not allowed.  I couldn't figure out why the trail was so wide at the onset: I sure enjoy hiking along side water... A portion of the trail was apparently recovering from a fire... The trail is becoming less apparent.... Trail?  What trail?  Time for scrambling over downed trees.... ...and it's getting steeper: Yeah, I wasn't kidding about that boulders part.... ...nor about the steep part: Didn't see very many, but when I did come upon a cairn I was quite thankful!: Two miles of uphill and steep on an unmarked trail makes for slow going.  I covered the first 5 miles of this trail in 1.3 hours - - it took me at least that to cover the next 2 miles: A view from behind: In case you missed it in earlier reports, this is bear country (Grizzly and black bear).  Seeing berries ready to pop along the path just put an added spice into this hike!: Looking down from where I had just come: Another shot looking down: I think this is mountain goat or maybe big horn sheep scat.  Not sure what other large mammel it could be in this terrain: Once off the side of the mountain, I had this in front of me to get to Black Canyon Lake: Made it!!  It was worth the effort, check out the view of the glacial lake: At 9,300' in elevation, this is some cold and clear water! A shot of the trail heading back: A view across to the side of the mountain I scampered across before scrambling the boulders and reaching the lake: The photos just don't do the hike justice since there isn't much to scale the pic and show how “big” and “steep” the topography really is: After a snack and pausing to reflect how thankful I am to be alive and able to seize the journey, I headed back down: I went up the right side going to the lake, and came down the left side, which had more cairns in the boulder area than did the right side: The dainty, colorful flowers seemed in great contrast to their harsh and rocky surroundings: Still coming back down...: ..which also included crossing a creek via a fallen log: See the trail?  Of course not, because there isn't one: I knew when I saw this peak that I was near the end of the toughest section of this hike and that the main trail wasn't too far away...: I did indeed find the main trail a few minutes later.  With the hardest and longest stretch behind me, I felt charged and victorious.  I took out my topo map from my pants pocket so I could determine exactly how many miles I had remaining to get back to my motorcycle at the start of the trailhead.  I looked at the map as I continued to walk along the path, until this: ...a root jumped up out of the ground and attacked me.  Ok, maybe the root didn't move, but I was sent to my knees.  I yelled “CRAP!!!” so loud that I'm willing to bet any bear or creature in the vicinity ran the other way.  I didn't even need a half second to access what had just happened – I sprained my ankle.    As if on auto-pilot, I immediately reached for my left shoelace and re-tightened it as much as possible to minimize swelling.  I opened my backpack and took 4 ibuprofen, then stood up, and mentally shifted.  I had 4 miles to get to the bike.  I picked up my pace to as fast as I could walk without running.  Being in Grizzly country, I could hear the ranger's words of “don't run in bear country” ringing in my ears.  It didn't matter how badly I sprained my ankle as I was laser focused on one goal: getting back to start of the trailhead where I could dunk my foot in the snow-melt creek then hop across the parking area to the FJR (my motorcycle).  All I can recall of the last 4 miles was just how pissed I was that I had made it over some really challenging terrain – heck, that I've covered over 50 miles in the past week alone, many in significant elevation – and a brief moment of inattention (looking at the map while hiking) cost me. Pain?  I have no idea – I was focused... and I finally made it: Since I decided to just dunk both feet in (it was easier then contorting one foot in and one out), I had to wait until I recovered feeling in my feet from the ice cold water to make it over to the bike.  I had a nice little goose-egg for a left ankle going on and it was hard to assess the extent of the injury since my adrenaline was sky high.  Instead of riding the 3 miles or so straight back to my campsite in the National Forest, I decided to ride 15 miles in the other direction into the town of Red Lodge, MT so I could get a compression (ACE) bandage. Once back at my campsite, which happened to be 15 feet from a creek, I was able to once again soak my ankle before retiring to my tent for the night: As I laid with my ankle elevated, I reflected on the day's adventure and did so with this view (from inside the tent): A hell of a hike today indeed.  Parting words: pain fades, memories last forever!! 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