7/27/18 – Squaw Lake
Day 37
Miles: 902.06 to 886.49
The moon is bright. I wake up several time thinking the alarm did not ring. I check the time. 11:52 pm. 3:30 am. 4:40 am. At 5:15 am I’m fast asleep and that’s when the darn alarm rings.
“Do you want to sleep another hour?” Dave asks.
I do, but at the same time I don’t. Mornings are my favorite time of the day to hike and sleeping in another hour would mean one less hour of the morning bliss.
Today we walk through the forest for quite some time. It’s an uphill but so easy I barely notice. The trail takes us sidehilling and offers some views into a valley that is now filled with smoky haze. At one point the trail curves and from there we start trending downhill. I remember the large tree on the right side. That’s where the storm hit us four years ago. Few minutes later it was hailing. Today the sky is blue with not a single cloud in the sky. For now at least.
Short break at Purple Lake and we are off for another uphill that takes us to the pretty Virginia Lake. We wish to sit for a lunch here but the timing is not right. It’s only 11:30 am and we just have had a snack. Few photos and we keep trucking.
Our last hill awaits us after crossing Fish Creek. It’s not a difficult one. The trail switchbacks up the hill, occasionally making us rock hop a creek. One of the creeks is not easy to rock hop. Off I go fording it. It’s about ankle deep and refreshing. One switchback higher we cross the same creek again. This time there is a bridge.
At the same time the rain starts. Few drops, then few more. It’s just rain, no thundering. I’m thankful for the lack of lightening and thundering. We’re on our way to Silver Pass. Last time we were climbing it it was lightening and thundering loudly.
The weather is quite interesting. While we are walking under a showery cloud, the sun shines above the valley just next to us and we are getting rained on and overheating at the same time.
Squaw Lake comes to a view. This lake is nested in an alpine basin of granite and shrubs. We take a “short” break here. It’s so relaxing. Half an hour later we decide to camp.
