I really needed an alpine fix, it was a very stressful and hectic spring with little time to get out and hike the mountains around here. I wouldn't have time for an overnighter but I could get out for a day before we leave next week for holidays. I had been trying for a couple of years to get into a larger alpine lake accessed by a trail that started less than 2 hours away. I decided to head in there, find the trailhead, hike into the lake and spend the better part of Saturday fishing for cutthroat trout and glassing the surrounding meadows/bowl for mule deer. I wanted it to be a relaxing trip so I didn't pack a rifle for black bear, I really did not want to deal with everything involved with killing an animal. I didn't even want to be tempted so the rifle stayed at home.
I'm at the trailhead by 7:00am, the forestry road in was steep with numerous waterbars but my old Ford seemed to relish being back in the mountains getting a good stretch. The trailhead is right at 1830m so I was into subalpine right away, unfortunately I was into fog almost as soon as I started hiking. I t got thicker the higher I went. Really hard to glass alpine meadows and bowls if you can't see them. Oh well my heart and lungs were pumping, Mountain Bluebirds were everywhere, Blue grouse were thrumming, and I was on a mountain I had never explored! So what if I couldn't see it. Within an hour I was at the junction where the left fork leads off the ridge down onto the pass that would lead me to the lake and the right takes me on to the summit.
I go left but the fog was super thick and I can't see 50m, within 200m I'm onto a snowfield. The pass is absolutely choked with snow, it's steep and I can't see 50m let alone 500. I'm reluctant to venture into the fog on the snow without crampons or snowshoes so I head back up onto the ridge and head for the summit. I can't see a way to skirt the pass so I decide to get to the top and see what there is to see. I can only hope the fog will lift, burn off or I hike out above it.It's become more of a hiking trip than a scouting trip. By the time I got to the avalanche shute leading to the saddle below the summit the sun made a brief appearance, and by the time I was on the saddle it was a bluebird day. I could only see to the north but I had an eagles eye view of the lake, the meadows leading down to it, and the surrounding bowl. I spent a couple of hours up there glassing, drinking tea, and eating my lunch. My little Leupold 15x30 compact picked up three bucks in one of the meadows on the eastern side of the bowl so the trip was not a total bust. I didn't wet a fly, didn't get to hike the meadows down to the lake or cut firewood for a pack trip this fall. I did get into the high alpine and blew the cobwebs out of my brain.
Already planning a return trip later in July with my oldest daughter for some fishing, further scouting and stash some firewood. My youngest daughter and I will be heading in there for youth season and see if her second mule deer can't be an adventure.
I'm at the trailhead by 7:00am, the forestry road in was steep with numerous waterbars but my old Ford seemed to relish being back in the mountains getting a good stretch. The trailhead is right at 1830m so I was into subalpine right away, unfortunately I was into fog almost as soon as I started hiking. I t got thicker the higher I went. Really hard to glass alpine meadows and bowls if you can't see them. Oh well my heart and lungs were pumping, Mountain Bluebirds were everywhere, Blue grouse were thrumming, and I was on a mountain I had never explored! So what if I couldn't see it. Within an hour I was at the junction where the left fork leads off the ridge down onto the pass that would lead me to the lake and the right takes me on to the summit.
I go left but the fog was super thick and I can't see 50m, within 200m I'm onto a snowfield. The pass is absolutely choked with snow, it's steep and I can't see 50m let alone 500. I'm reluctant to venture into the fog on the snow without crampons or snowshoes so I head back up onto the ridge and head for the summit. I can't see a way to skirt the pass so I decide to get to the top and see what there is to see. I can only hope the fog will lift, burn off or I hike out above it.It's become more of a hiking trip than a scouting trip. By the time I got to the avalanche shute leading to the saddle below the summit the sun made a brief appearance, and by the time I was on the saddle it was a bluebird day. I could only see to the north but I had an eagles eye view of the lake, the meadows leading down to it, and the surrounding bowl. I spent a couple of hours up there glassing, drinking tea, and eating my lunch. My little Leupold 15x30 compact picked up three bucks in one of the meadows on the eastern side of the bowl so the trip was not a total bust. I didn't wet a fly, didn't get to hike the meadows down to the lake or cut firewood for a pack trip this fall. I did get into the high alpine and blew the cobwebs out of my brain.
Already planning a return trip later in July with my oldest daughter for some fishing, further scouting and stash some firewood. My youngest daughter and I will be heading in there for youth season and see if her second mule deer can't be an adventure.
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