Island Lake, 7/4-7/5/09, 12 miles, 2000 elevation
I needed a backpack. Get out in nature, climb a mountain, sleep next to an alpine lake. It has been far too long. And a nice long holiday weekend is the perfect time for a getaway. And as we would be leading a hike to Island Lake the following weekend, our destination was set. What wasn't set was our trailhead. The winter storms over the past few years had left the forest road to our trail damaged almost to the point of no repair. I hope they will be able to fix the road, as this trail lead to one of my favorite late season hikes - Talapus and Ollalie Lakes. But an alternative trailhead would only add a mile to our trip each way on this trip. That was easy enough.
A steady climb through the forest greeted us as we started out on the first couple of miles. About 2 1/2 miles in, the trees opened up to a jaw-dropping view of the valley below us, Lake Ollalie glistening in the sun, Mt Rainier over-powering the sky. And beargrass filling every crevice in the rocks. It had been years since I had seen so much beargrass. Beargrass is cyclical in that a plant blooms every couple of years, some years they bloom in a high concentration. Looks as if this is the year for beargrass. I look forward to what the rest of the year has in store for me flower-wise. If it is even half as beautiful as this, I will be happy.
After the junction with Pratt Lake, we found ourselves almost lonely on the trail. Most hikers turned off to head to the more popular lake in the area. We prided ourselves in the idea that maybe we'd not have to share "our" lake with many people. Not so. We arrived at the lake just after the ranger and he mentioned we might be able to squeeze in somewhere but all the established sites were taken or snow covered and he was heading to Rainbow Lake for the night. We did find a place to squeeze in, and settled in for a relaxing afternoon by a lovely little alpine lake. Just what I needed to get the season off to a start.
I needed a backpack. Get out in nature, climb a mountain, sleep next to an alpine lake. It has been far too long. And a nice long holiday weekend is the perfect time for a getaway. And as we would be leading a hike to Island Lake the following weekend, our destination was set. What wasn't set was our trailhead. The winter storms over the past few years had left the forest road to our trail damaged almost to the point of no repair. I hope they will be able to fix the road, as this trail lead to one of my favorite late season hikes - Talapus and Ollalie Lakes. But an alternative trailhead would only add a mile to our trip each way on this trip. That was easy enough.
A steady climb through the forest greeted us as we started out on the first couple of miles. About 2 1/2 miles in, the trees opened up to a jaw-dropping view of the valley below us, Lake Ollalie glistening in the sun, Mt Rainier over-powering the sky. And beargrass filling every crevice in the rocks. It had been years since I had seen so much beargrass. Beargrass is cyclical in that a plant blooms every couple of years, some years they bloom in a high concentration. Looks as if this is the year for beargrass. I look forward to what the rest of the year has in store for me flower-wise. If it is even half as beautiful as this, I will be happy.
After the junction with Pratt Lake, we found ourselves almost lonely on the trail. Most hikers turned off to head to the more popular lake in the area. We prided ourselves in the idea that maybe we'd not have to share "our" lake with many people. Not so. We arrived at the lake just after the ranger and he mentioned we might be able to squeeze in somewhere but all the established sites were taken or snow covered and he was heading to Rainbow Lake for the night. We did find a place to squeeze in, and settled in for a relaxing afternoon by a lovely little alpine lake. Just what I needed to get the season off to a start.
No comments:
Post a Comment