When I told my compadres where I was spending the weekend, I got a lot of warnings about staying cool, staying hydrated, and loading up on sunscreen. I set out early and arrived at the Pete Lake trailhead at 6 am armed with a cotton shirt, a hat, a ton of Gatorade and salted almonds, and 40+ SPF gel. Luckily, I went one step further and brought lots of DEET. The moment I stepped out of the car I was swarmed with mosquitos. It was already 71 degrees, but there was a bit of cloud cover that I expected to burn off.
The four and a half miles to Pete Lake is just long and flat, nothing to look at, and the mosquitos never let up. I stopped by the shore of Pete Lake for a drink and a snack, swatting at everything that moved, and headed up.
Just after Pete Lake the mosquitos thinned out. When I got to the Lemah Creek crossing, I saw how high, fast, and wide it was and decided it would be wise to add the extra 3/4 mile trip on the Lemah Meadows trail to join the PCT and take the footbridge route. Some of the PCT is a little overgrown, and some of the growth is Devil's Club. The rest of the overgrowth is just wet and full of spider webs. It was actually nice to get soaked walking through that - it was a nice cool-down.
Miles later of more uneventful trail and I finally hit the switchbacks up to the lake. Again, no views, but there was one rather fantastic, crashing waterfall that looked like something you'd see in Vegas or Disneyland.
Right after that is the one big blowdown. A huge dead tree fell over the trail. You can't go over or around it, so you have to crawl under it. With a day pack, it might be a little more navigable than with an overnight pack. Over the whole trail, I saw one group of about 8, one other solo hiker, and two couples. All of them were going in the opposite direction. I was hoping for a lack of crowds, and I got it.
Finally, at long last, I got up to the first views of Three Queens and the peaks surrounding Spectacle Lake. It took me about 6 hours between leaving the car and getting to the lakeshore. I made my way down to the lake to find that I was alone and had my choice of campsites. I wandered down the first shoreline reached by the trail and did not find what I wanted. I went around the South shore and then North onto the large peninsula and found a campsite near the end with a view of the Western portion of the lakes and the peaks surrounding it: Huckleberry Mountain, Chickamin Peak, and Lemah Mountain. Heavenly!
Eventually, two other campsites were tak en, and there was a group of 4 that fished and left, and one other solo hiker who stayed for a short time and left. The lake was very quiet.
I set up camp and ate lunch, then set out to find the trail to Glacier Lake. No such luck. I went back to camp and relaxed and took in the veiw, had a swim, watched the fish and the ducks, and relaxed some more. The cloud cover broke breifly a few times. The temperature hovered around the mid-nineties, but when the sun broke it shot up to 103. That gets a little uncomfortable, but that's what alpine lakes are for. The sunset I hoped for did not materialize - too many clouds. It was nice, but not... well, not spectacular. I finally crawled into my tent and passed out. A deer woke me up around midnight, crashing around in the campsite, looking for leftovers or something.
I did not go up to Spectacle Point due to time and energy constraints (after hunting for the Glacier Lake trail for too long), but word is that there are still a couple of nasty snowfields on that portion of the PCT.
When I woke up this morning, it was already 64 degrees. I ate and packed out, taking one last look for that Glacier Lake trail - for next time. I left the lake at about 6:30 and got back to the car, 11 miles later, at 11:15 and 88 degrees. I must have been in a hurry to get through the skeeters. I saw only 8 people on the trail this morning, all on their way up to Pete Lake.
The four and a half miles to Pete Lake is just long and flat, nothing to look at, and the mosquitos never let up. I stopped by the shore of Pete Lake for a drink and a snack, swatting at everything that moved, and headed up.
Just after Pete Lake the mosquitos thinned out. When I got to the Lemah Creek crossing, I saw how high, fast, and wide it was and decided it would be wise to add the extra 3/4 mile trip on the Lemah Meadows trail to join the PCT and take the footbridge route. Some of the PCT is a little overgrown, and some of the growth is Devil's Club. The rest of the overgrowth is just wet and full of spider webs. It was actually nice to get soaked walking through that - it was a nice cool-down.
Miles later of more uneventful trail and I finally hit the switchbacks up to the lake. Again, no views, but there was one rather fantastic, crashing waterfall that looked like something you'd see in Vegas or Disneyland.
Right after that is the one big blowdown. A huge dead tree fell over the trail. You can't go over or around it, so you have to crawl under it. With a day pack, it might be a little more navigable than with an overnight pack. Over the whole trail, I saw one group of about 8, one other solo hiker, and two couples. All of them were going in the opposite direction. I was hoping for a lack of crowds, and I got it.
Finally, at long last, I got up to the first views of Three Queens and the peaks surrounding Spectacle Lake. It took me about 6 hours between leaving the car and getting to the lakeshore. I made my way down to the lake to find that I was alone and had my choice of campsites. I wandered down the first shoreline reached by the trail and did not find what I wanted. I went around the South shore and then North onto the large peninsula and found a campsite near the end with a view of the Western portion of the lakes and the peaks surrounding it: Huckleberry Mountain, Chickamin Peak, and Lemah Mountain. Heavenly!
Eventually, two other campsites were tak en, and there was a group of 4 that fished and left, and one other solo hiker who stayed for a short time and left. The lake was very quiet.
I set up camp and ate lunch, then set out to find the trail to Glacier Lake. No such luck. I went back to camp and relaxed and took in the veiw, had a swim, watched the fish and the ducks, and relaxed some more. The cloud cover broke breifly a few times. The temperature hovered around the mid-nineties, but when the sun broke it shot up to 103. That gets a little uncomfortable, but that's what alpine lakes are for. The sunset I hoped for did not materialize - too many clouds. It was nice, but not... well, not spectacular. I finally crawled into my tent and passed out. A deer woke me up around midnight, crashing around in the campsite, looking for leftovers or something.
I did not go up to Spectacle Point due to time and energy constraints (after hunting for the Glacier Lake trail for too long), but word is that there are still a couple of nasty snowfields on that portion of the PCT.
When I woke up this morning, it was already 64 degrees. I ate and packed out, taking one last look for that Glacier Lake trail - for next time. I left the lake at about 6:30 and got back to the car, 11 miles later, at 11:15 and 88 degrees. I must have been in a hurry to get through the skeeters. I saw only 8 people on the trail this morning, all on their way up to Pete Lake.
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