Ah man I was supposed to make this trip over the summer. Maybe next year.
Very nice. Looking forward to the rest of the report.
Ah man I was supposed to make this trip over the summer. Maybe next year.
Very nice. Looking forward to the rest of the report.
Nice trip. I spent a lot of time in Lost Creek when we lived out there. You're making me miss CO!
Day 3 - Part 1
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After my bear scare, I managed to talk Jeff into letting me hike with him the next day. I had been planning on hiking a mile or so further than him, but that wasn't big enough a deal to me to give up the opportunity not to be solo.
The climb up to Trail Rider Pass was long and steep. It was about 2500 feet over the course of maybe 4-5 miles. But it was pretty, and offered some nice views.
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After reaching the top of the pass, I was treated to more nice vistas, including the day's destination - Snowmas Lake.
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The lake was a fair bit lower than the pass, so the afternoon was spent losing altitude. It looked like it wouldn't take very long to get from the pass to the lake, but the trail was a lot longer than it looked, and more slow-going because it was fairly rocky. There was lots of varied terrain to look at on the way down, though.
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Day 3 - Part 2
We reached the lake relatively early, so I spent the last bit of the afternoon walking around the lake taking pictures. It was very pretty. A few other folks showed up to camp at the lake as well.
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Wonderful adventure!!!
Thanks for sharing.
Beautiful wild country. So much different from the green tunnels which are in fact nice in their own way.
Any bug problems? Deer Flies and Black Flies can be problematic in WI and the UP. Not to mention the eight species of mosquito. By the way, there are other bugs as if these were not enough...
One of my favorite parts about both my hikes in Colorado was how few bugs there were. My clothes were coated in permethrin. In Florida I still would have needed to put on bug spray, and bus would still have been annoying even then. But in Colorado, I only felt the need to put on bug spray once. I saw only a few mosquitoes, almost no spiders. The only bug that was very common were black flies (like regular house flies) which seemed to become more common and more aggressive at higher altitude. But even the those didn't really do much more than fly around and not bother me.
Really enjoying your reports, can't wait for the next day! Having been to CO and hiked - not where you were - I know the pics don't quite do it justice, but they're gorgeous all the same.
"I wonder if anyone else has an ear so tuned and sharpened as I have, to detect the music, not of the spheres, but of earth, subtleties of major and minor chord that the wind strikes upon the tree branches. Have you ever heard the earth breathe... ?"
- Kate Chopin
Day 4
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I woke up a little earlier than usual after a great night's sleep. Jeff wanted to get an early start (I tend to take a while getting ready in the morning) so he took off without me. I didn't mind hiking alone, despite the bears, because daytime just seems safer. I only really got scared alone at night in camp. The first couple miles were pretty easy, then the trail started a fairly steep ascent toward the pass. As always, lots more pretty scenery.
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After getting back to Crater Lake, the crowds started to pick up again. It also started raining for the first time during the whole trip, though it was a very light sprinkle that wasn't even hard enough for me to bother getting out rain gear. I got back to the information desk at the beginning of the trail and reported by bear sighting. Then I rode the bus back to town, feeling sorry for the nice ladies from Georgia who had to sit next to me and smell me.
Over all, amazing trip!
Nice. I live in Aspen though I am not sure why they went crazy about bears this summer requiring bear cannisters.
There wasn't anything in the local newspapers about encounters with bears (which, if they were happening all the time, would make the front page here). I think I vaguely recall it being down to people being idiots - leaving food out, or in their packs on their ground, etc, which is basically an open invitation to a bear.
I know when I camp out here, I hang my food in a bag from a tree. Never had any problems with bears etc. Though I do get a little scared at night - between the Mountain Lions, Coyotes, and Bears out here...when you are all alone up a creek, it does make you wonder...
Excellent trip report, with good info on where to plan on camps. I hope to make the same trip next August. beautiful photos.
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