Day 1, Day
2/ Day 3, Day 4/Day 5
map/profile
We got an early
start on day 4 as we decided to try to make it to Camp Lake so our day
5 was really easy. Here are views from Gem Lake before we left.
We knew that we had some
downhill ahead of us but had to climb back up a few sections as well
before reaching Camp Lake. This is the exception on the trail where
the terrain is flat.
I grabbed more random shots
on the way back as we had already covered this section once before.
Not much left of this blackened
tree.
There is this huge rock you
pass by that is cracked in 3 enormous pieces. I had to stand back to
just get some of the rock in the picture. In person you can really see
why it is so impressive.
I am not sure what made this
mucky looking pond so dirty. It looked almost like mud but it was water,
I think?.
There is a short section
covered in ferns, so don't think the whole trail is dry!
We saw this green snake that
was very slow moving. We had plenty of time to take its picture. Leo
and I saw a gopher snake that jumped across the trail on our day hike
the day before. This would not be the last snake we saw on this trip.
Not sure what kind of snake this was. We though maybe it was molting
or hurt since it was moving so slowly.
These rocks just looked cool
the way the pop up out of the surrounding terrain.
We ended up making it back
to Camp Lake. We had enough time to setup camp and take a swim here.
The water was nice and we saw a few day hikers. Leo was nice enough
to give one group directions to Bear Lake.
We
filtered water and swam. When we were drying off we saw this guy cruise
by. Not sure you would see him if you were in the water as only his
head stays above the water while he swims.
Here is camp some distance
up above Camp Lake.
Here is Leo's hammock and
laundry drying.
We goofed around the granite
behind camp that evening until dark.
This guy was my favorite!
I took this shot our last
morning at breakfast. If you look close you can see these guys eating
the oatmeal out of the packets. If you are really careful you can mix
and eat your oatmeal in the packet (no dishes). You do risk burning
yourself to save some dishes, but we are camping out here in the wild
so we live on the edge ;-) On a serious note, be sure to have a spot
to set your oatmeal packet after mixing because it will be too hot to
hold (initially) and you don't want to have it tip over. A sierra cup
works good or a notch in a log.
The weather was changing
a bit today with some clouds in the distance. Nothing threatening but
it was much different than the blue we were used to..
I figured I should take one
shot of myself on this trip. This shot was the morning at Camp Lake.
Here we are packing up for
the short 2.5 miles to the car.
Goodbye Camp Lake. There
was a group that came in late that was swimming without anything on
this morning. Not in the shot, thank goodness.
Some trees are simply amazing
out here. How some trees manage to grow right on the granite is unbelievable.
One of the more covered sections
of trail. It being Friday now there were quite a few people headed in.
There was one group of senior backpackers that looked like they were
going in ultralight. Another group of backpackers let us know the mule
train headed in was their supplies. Normally I would say that is cheating
but since they are my elders I think it is perfectly OK. I might even
have to remember that when I am their age.. When the mule train did
pass us it was pretty dusty. The cowboys in charge apologized for the
dust at least.
Pine Valley in the distance.
Getting close now.
This was a great trip and this area has so much to explore. There are
lots of loop options and your only real concerns should be water sources
and how many miles you can realistically cover each day. I am sure we
will be out here again as there are still many lakes I would like to
see out here.
Map and profile
show
trip in from Crabtree Trailhead to Deer Lake. Click either for a larger
version.
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