8/18-20/08
Day Two
This was the day we were looking forward to. After a day getting up to Walker we would now head up to the lakes of the upper basin. The info we had told of a boot path than followed the inlet up to a meadow than turned left to climb to a saddle gateway to the upper basin. We found cairns near our campsite and followed them up to the right of the creek. The path was pretty easy to follow to the large meadow. Lots of flowers especially in the meadow. At a final cairn the route split. right headed up to Sheep and Slide Lakes and left quickly disappeared. We saw the rock wall above Walker Lake and a ridge heading down towards the meadow. We headed cross country in that direction.
There were far more flowers in the meadow area than we expected. Lots of purple aster everywhere on the whole route and especially here. We saw paintbrush, gentian, and many more as well. At times we found and lost the boot path but route finding was not difficult. At the base of the route up to the saddle the trail became very distinct. The route is most all on rock and some of it is loose. Still it is not a difficult scramble. In short order we crested the ridge just above the saddle.
Wow! What a view from there. Hook Lake is just below and the blazing white David O Lee Peak is right above it. An outstanding view. The pass is at 9900' and the view in all directions is terrific. We headed down to the lake and rounded it on the left side. Beyond the lake is a plateau of granite, grass, and some trees. Stunning beauty. Similar to the Enchantments of the Washington Cascades but 3,000' higher. We crossed the plateau and saw big Sapphire Lake just below us. We dropped down to the lake where we met two of the four members of the other group in the area.
The mom had come up with her dad when she was 9 years old. Now 40 years later she was returning with her son. They brought fishing rods to the upper lakes. We decided to start at the top and headed around Sapphire (9888') and on up to Cirque Lake (10,060'). Aiming for a low saddle brought us right up to Cirque. The lake has steep walls on the back side and only rock and a little grass at the front. From Cirque we could look down to Sapphire and Cove laid out below.
A nice gentle ramp with some grass leads up from Cirque towards the Kettles. The Kettles are small ponds high in the rocky moraine that are frozen most of the year. They were our next goal. The moraine is a huge pile of boulders and scree. I headed across the boulders looking for the Kettles. I found one Kettle and it was not very impressive. More like a small tarn in a pile of rocks. Another one had a little water but was mostly still just a pile of snow.
I headed back to find Kim and she was engrossed in the rocks. Seems they all look like petrified wood. More like a whole petrified forest at 10,300'. Neat rocks at the very least. Right above us was the white slope of David O Lee Peak. The white color is unlike anything I have ever seen in the mountains. Distinctive and very beautiful. Although we were over 10,000' very little snow survives this late in the summer. We then headed back down the arm to Cirque Lake.
From Cirque we took a more direct route back to Sapphire Lake. It took us over to the creek between Cirque and Sapphire. Well not all the way between. Cirque has no direct outlet. The creek pops out of the rocky hillside between the lakes. More flowers here including a very strange one. Photos will be below. We rounded Sapphire and headed towards Cove Lake some 46' lower. At the Sapphire outlet we decided to cross and ascend a narrow ridge to more lakes. We hiked up grass and boulders then some slabs to the ridge top. Near the high point we stopped. For the past hour we had seen smoke heading our way. Now it was here in a big way. The sky was brown instead of blue land Kim was having some breathing problems. Not serious but the smoke was getting thicker by the minute.
We chose to head back down. We had seen plenty of big high elevation lakes this day. Back at Sapphire we did choose to drop down to have a look at Cove Lake. A little cross country and we rose back to Hook Lake and soon the saddle to exit the upper basin. The boot path down was a little tougher with the loose rock at first but we were soon back at the meadow. Again we lost the trail but reached the trail split at the end of the meadow and followed the route right back to camp.
It was a terrific day of high country roaming. The lakes were gorgeous and the granite was spellbinding. Add in the numerous 11,000' peaks all around and it was a day to remember. The smoke began to dissipate in the evening and was mostly gone in the morning.
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This was the day we were looking forward to. After a day getting up to Walker we would now head up to the lakes of the upper basin. The info we had told of a boot path than followed the inlet up to a meadow than turned left to climb to a saddle gateway to the upper basin. We found cairns near our campsite and followed them up to the right of the creek. The path was pretty easy to follow to the large meadow. Lots of flowers especially in the meadow. At a final cairn the route split. right headed up to Sheep and Slide Lakes and left quickly disappeared. We saw the rock wall above Walker Lake and a ridge heading down towards the meadow. We headed cross country in that direction.
There were far more flowers in the meadow area than we expected. Lots of purple aster everywhere on the whole route and especially here. We saw paintbrush, gentian, and many more as well. At times we found and lost the boot path but route finding was not difficult. At the base of the route up to the saddle the trail became very distinct. The route is most all on rock and some of it is loose. Still it is not a difficult scramble. In short order we crested the ridge just above the saddle.
Wow! What a view from there. Hook Lake is just below and the blazing white David O Lee Peak is right above it. An outstanding view. The pass is at 9900' and the view in all directions is terrific. We headed down to the lake and rounded it on the left side. Beyond the lake is a plateau of granite, grass, and some trees. Stunning beauty. Similar to the Enchantments of the Washington Cascades but 3,000' higher. We crossed the plateau and saw big Sapphire Lake just below us. We dropped down to the lake where we met two of the four members of the other group in the area.
The mom had come up with her dad when she was 9 years old. Now 40 years later she was returning with her son. They brought fishing rods to the upper lakes. We decided to start at the top and headed around Sapphire (9888') and on up to Cirque Lake (10,060'). Aiming for a low saddle brought us right up to Cirque. The lake has steep walls on the back side and only rock and a little grass at the front. From Cirque we could look down to Sapphire and Cove laid out below.
A nice gentle ramp with some grass leads up from Cirque towards the Kettles. The Kettles are small ponds high in the rocky moraine that are frozen most of the year. They were our next goal. The moraine is a huge pile of boulders and scree. I headed across the boulders looking for the Kettles. I found one Kettle and it was not very impressive. More like a small tarn in a pile of rocks. Another one had a little water but was mostly still just a pile of snow.
I headed back to find Kim and she was engrossed in the rocks. Seems they all look like petrified wood. More like a whole petrified forest at 10,300'. Neat rocks at the very least. Right above us was the white slope of David O Lee Peak. The white color is unlike anything I have ever seen in the mountains. Distinctive and very beautiful. Although we were over 10,000' very little snow survives this late in the summer. We then headed back down the arm to Cirque Lake.
From Cirque we took a more direct route back to Sapphire Lake. It took us over to the creek between Cirque and Sapphire. Well not all the way between. Cirque has no direct outlet. The creek pops out of the rocky hillside between the lakes. More flowers here including a very strange one. Photos will be below. We rounded Sapphire and headed towards Cove Lake some 46' lower. At the Sapphire outlet we decided to cross and ascend a narrow ridge to more lakes. We hiked up grass and boulders then some slabs to the ridge top. Near the high point we stopped. For the past hour we had seen smoke heading our way. Now it was here in a big way. The sky was brown instead of blue land Kim was having some breathing problems. Not serious but the smoke was getting thicker by the minute.
We chose to head back down. We had seen plenty of big high elevation lakes this day. Back at Sapphire we did choose to drop down to have a look at Cove Lake. A little cross country and we rose back to Hook Lake and soon the saddle to exit the upper basin. The boot path down was a little tougher with the loose rock at first but we were soon back at the meadow. Again we lost the trail but reached the trail split at the end of the meadow and followed the route right back to camp.
It was a terrific day of high country roaming. The lakes were gorgeous and the granite was spellbinding. Add in the numerous 11,000' peaks all around and it was a day to remember. The smoke began to dissipate in the evening and was mostly gone in the morning.
Reflection In Lake |
Morning Light |
Granite Peak Above |
Indian Paintbrush |
Beautiful Purple Flower |
Kim At Work |
Bright Red Paintbrush |
White Flowers |
Saddle Is In Sight |
Buttercup Like Flower |
Tilted Rock Peak |
Beautiful Granite |
Meadow & Sharp Peak |
End Of Basin |
Snag Art |
Heading To Saddle |
High Above Meadow |
Above Walker Lake |
White Peak In Sight |
Wow! DO Lee Peak |
Point 11,272 |
Hook Lake & DO Lee |
White Cloud Peak 9 |
Kim On Granite Plateau |
Crossing Plateau |
Fishing Sapphire Lake |
Sapphire Below |
Kim At Cirque Lake |
Heading To Moraine |
In The Moraine |
Search Finds One Kettle |
Looks Like Cracks |
Exit Via Snow Finger |
Barren Cirque Lake |
Sapphire From Cirque |
Strange Plant |
Creek Emerges |
Smoke Blows In |
Creek Into Cove Lake |
Slabs Near Camp |
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