3159 gained
 |
| Straight |
Back in Washington for my hikes now
When people talk about their favorite personal definition of “the perfect hike”, the answer is always different. Some say the longer the better, some say steeper is better and some are just happy to be in the woods. For me, it’s fairly simple. A decent sized round trip to which I am challenged but I don’t get thrust to my limit
We crossed 2 separate rock fields that seemed fairly old. We had absolutely stellar views of Keleten Peak(on my hit list) and the lake valley below. After crossing through a marshy area(thankfully not many bugs), we reached the lake. We decided to descend to the shores as Nathan wanted to fish and I wanted swim. Nathan found his spot and I rock hopped about for about 10 minutes until I found a naturally deep spot and rocky out crop. So what happened next…. Well… You can tell..
Pratt lake is exactly that.
I found myself hiking with Kristen Bader and Nathan Resick. Kris is the normal stand in but Nathan was a new for me. We met at the trailhead at 9:00 Am and began moving up, up and away along the trail. The first 1.3 miles of the trail is pretty easy. I noted the lack of water and mind you, last time I was here… There was about 10 feet of snow… At 1.3 miles you pass the junction with the Granite Mountain trail. That trail turns into an ass kicker real fast, as I have experienced before and will in just a few weeks. From there on the trail is pretty mellow as you head to the Alpine Lakes Wilderness. You round a bend and feel some good cool air, on a 80 degree day, it was mercy.
We took a break at 3.3 miles at the junction for Ollie and Talapus lake. This world was very different without 10 feet of snow and ice. I was surely thankful for that as we set off from the junction at a steady pace for another mile or so. The trail took us up to a saddle crest at 4,200 feet. Now funny, most things I have read say to stop here. Weeeeeeeeelllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll screw that, I am going to the lake because I am not a wussy and there is a trail. So began DOWN which was not going to be fun coming back…
We crossed 2 separate rock fields that seemed fairly old. We had absolutely stellar views of Keleten Peak(on my hit list) and the lake valley below. After crossing through a marshy area(thankfully not many bugs), we reached the lake. We decided to descend to the shores as Nathan wanted to fish and I wanted swim. Nathan found his spot and I rock hopped about for about 10 minutes until I found a naturally deep spot and rocky out crop. So what happened next…. Well… You can tell..
A bit cold initially but Kris and I decided to play with my camera and tried to get me mid-jump and being successful, we decide to head home. We were a bit slow going up the hill but I need to learn to not move so fast…
We crested the saddle and uneventfully sauntered back to the parking lot. I must say, it was a near perfect hike. A well challenge, no injuries, insightful conversations and a new hiking friend and another hike off the list. Drawing me ever closer to 80,000 feet gained.
 |
| Kleeten in the middle |
 |
| dat lake |
 |
| Must... Climb |
 |
| My favorite |
No comments:
Post a Comment