We started out from Strawberry Lake, quickly coming to Strawberry Falls. Beautiful, and not too far into the hike to have us remotely exhausted yet. We decided to stop there for some breakfast.
From there, we continued our endless ascent into the hills. Here's Strawberry Lake in the background:
We were still pretty happy at this point, talking about how we'd set up camp at the top of the ridge, and climb the mountain and then either go on to the next lake or set up camp along the way. Heck, there were springs everywhere up here. No.
Instead, after several hours of walking, we hit some serious snow. The stuff on the level areas wasn't too bad, but I was exhausted. The packs were heavy, I'm not in the best of shape, nor have I done this before. Our elevation gain was pretty intense, as well as mileage. The snow made the trail impossible to find except for the footprints of someone that had come down off the mountain earlier. So onward, and upward. To this:
You can't really see the ledge from which I am ascending, because I am climbing a near vertical wall of snow. It was do-able on the way UP.
So, we made it to the ridge line, only to see nothing but a barren wasteland. A fire had ravaged this area and nothing had yet grown back. UGLY. It was now 12:30 (we got up hella early), and we were exhausted. We found a little spot and dropped our bags, planning to come back and camp there. And those springs, well, we looked for them, and couldn't find them. There was snow, but that was all. The view was expansive, if nothing else:
Well, we had found out that the way into High Lake, where we wanted to go to continue the loop was quite a hike on the ridgeline to an area that was likely impossible to traverse. And puppa was likely not going to have any of it. So, in an effort to regroup, and to avoid the swarms of black flies, we set up the tent to take a nap, read or something. Then smarty-pants spilled a beer in the tent (we had brought 4 with us). Now all bear precautions were to the wind, and we were on a ridgeline that offered little shelter. We couldn't go on, nor did we have the inclination, nor energy to climb Strawberry Mountain (which looked like a big dirtpile). It was at least 100 degrees and we were done. What to do. Then we saw some dark clouds. This was not where we wanted to spend the night. So, tired and weary though we were, we were going to climb down, and once back at Strawberrry Falls, were going to make a shortcut to Little Strawberry Lake. That was the best decision we could have made. But the day (and ensuing hell) wasn't over.
So, we started to climb down. Problem was, the sun had turned the snow to mush. Not a problem on the flat parts, but that verticle incline seemed to be impossible to descend. So, Steve tried to find a way down the scree. We walked a bit, but when I realized that we would have to climb a hell of a long way and then a long way down perilous scree, I made the decision that we had to come down the snow.
And we did, but it took forever. I took off my pack and headed down, using my hands as claws and stopping every five feet to warm them. The entire perilous part may only have been 40 feet high, but it seemed like much more. Then Steve tried to lower the packs to me, as I was on a ledge that ended the most dangerous part. The first was lowered with some string, but when the string was let go, the pack stayed put. Which meant I had to climb up and get it. I almost lost it and myself in the process, because it had slid away from the protection of the ledge. Next, to keep my pack from sticking this time, S decided to give the pack a push. Which then came at me at a speed which caused an impact that I thought was the end of me. In addition, my hiking stick was still in the side and I am lucky that I am alive.
Getting Fife down was hard too, as he was having nothing of it. Basically, he had to be pushed over the edge. Then Steve came down, and I took this:
The rest was not so difficult, we were happy to be alive. But those dark clouds? They were starting to let go some seriously large drops. At one point we took shelter in the trees, trying to remain dry. The rain abated somewhat and we hiked on. Hard hiking, sore and tired, hungry and too many bugs.
But YEAY, we made it to camp, and just in time. We walked around, and tried to find a dry spot. I was distracted as I found a spot where the thunder was reverbrating throught the valley and making an amazing noise. One of the best thunderstorms of all time. The lake is most amazing, with a sheer rock face on one side and glaciers down to the very surface of the lake.
Then the rain started in earnest. We got everything in the tent, made ourselves reasonably comfortable (as could be with two people, a large dog, and all our gear).
But we had no water. None.
So we waited until the first opportunity for the rain to let up and Steve went out to purify some water from the lake. Most of our clothes were wet from either the rain or sweat. I felt gross. So, I took the campsuds, our dry comfy remaining clothes, towels and headed out to the lake to wash up a bit. I took off my clothes and had applied soap to my parts just as it started raining in earnest. Steve was in the same situation. First we had to rinse, then grab all of our stuff and head back into the tent. Now everything was wet. I was naked, and Fife was drenched. Not a nice moment in the trip.
A bit later, we were able to make a fire, and since most of our clothes were tech, they dried either on our bodies, or in front of the fire. The worst part was trying to get the shoes dry. Which we did, just in time, because the rain started up again and we were able to grab everything and hop into the tent, reasonably dry this time. Did I mention that earlier in the day, Steve was telling me the number one rule for backpacking? Yep, staying dry.
This time was the last. We decided, though quarters were hella cramped, that the day was done. It was only about 10:00, but having hiked over 12 miles with backpacks on, having scaled a dangerous "ice mountain" and suffered through several downpours, we were fast asleep.
Monday was a most lovely day in comparison
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