July 16: Mirror Lake to Lower Twin Lake
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| Dads Lake |
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Despite getting a fitful night of sleep due to an uneven campsite I was up at 6 AM and ready to start taking pictures in the early morning light. A quick check of the tent’s interior revealed no condensation which was pleasing since that was the first night it was used. I putzed around the lake for a while and watched the small trout rising before heading back to camp and a still sleeping Yumi. After the first of many oatmeal breakfasts we’d eat on this trip, we broke camp and were hiking by 8:30 with barely a cloud in the sky.
I was hoping to get over to Grave Lake by tonight but knew that might be difficult given our short mileage yesterday, and set my sights on either Pyramid or the Twin Lakes near Hailey Pass. Either way I knew our eyes would be treated to some awesome scenery.
We quickly made it up and over a small rise between Mirror and Dads Lake and were again treated to some great views about 8 miles to the north. We met the first folks we’d seen on the trail at the Dads Lake outlet, Ben and Stacy, and easily rock-hopped across after chatting with them for a few minutes. Shortly after reaching the head of Dads Lake we were at Marms Lake just after 10:00 AM. I was a little disgusted that we couldn’t make it this far yesterday after seeing how easy the trail had been so far today but didn’t think it mattered that much in the long run. The track from Marms to the meadows at Washakie creek undulated but was not difficult. Washakie Creek was beautiful as it dissected the meadow on it’s journey west from Shadow Lake and would make a great first night’s camp with an early start from Big Sandy Opening.
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| Washakie Creek and meadows. |
Near the trail junction leading to Washakie Pass we met a rotund gentleman from Little Chute, WI about 40 miles from our home, while taking a short break. What was remarkable about this man was that he was hiking solo just months after undergoing a liver transplant. Good on him.
Shortly after our break we arrived at the junction of the Pyramid Lake and Hailey Pass trails at Maes Lake. After a short conference we decided to press on and climb up to the Twin Lakes. By this time Yumi was getting tired, cranky and I realized there was no chance we would make it to Grave Lake tonight. I knew we had to make it up to Little Valentine Lake tomorrow night if we were to safely traverse the Lizard Head Trail before possible thunderstorms rolled in the day after, or there would be no Cirque of the Towers on this trip. I was beginning to think about looping back around over Washakie Pass on day 4 as an alternative.
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| Our second night's camp at the lower Twin Lake. Incredible views and solitude. |
The hike up to the Twin Lakes was rather grueling for Yumi and I have to admit some fatigue was setting in myself. For the second straight year I was attempting a difficult hike with little to no training and it was starting to show. We crossed a few snow fields, which didn’t sit well with Yumi, and streams on the way up with little difficulty and found what I considered our best camp site of the entire trip in a boulder field about 80 yards from the lower lake, directly below Pyramid Peak. We could see the crossing of Hailey Pass the next morning would pose no problems as it looked like we would only have to climb 250-300’.
After getting the tent set up we attempted to nap for an hour without luck. Realizing I had started to smell a little funky I strolled down to the lake and had every intention of diving right in to get cleaned up. This idea was quickly forgotten about as soon I stepped into the icy waters which literally stung my calves. A sponge bath would have to do.
The bugs were not too bad here due to a slight breeze and the higher elevation, which I figured was very close to 11,000’---just another reason to love our site.
After another freeze dried dinner I heated some water for Yumi so that she could clean up herself and we retired for the night just after 9:00. A good day despite the fatigue.
