Wednesday Trisha, Davi and I hiked up to Cathedral Lake, a 6 mile roundtrip with 2000 ft. of elevation gain up and then back down. Shelley and Ken both had things they had to do and weren't able to go with us. It was a wonderful, though challenging, hike. We got a later start than we had planned, the sun was quite warm, with most of the hike out in the open. While I had applied sunscreen on my face, neck and arms, I didn't think about the fact that the cap I was wearing was one of the adjustable ones, unlike the one I usually wear, so it had the open place in the back. As a result I ended up getting sunburned on the part of my balding pate that showed through the opening! Pretty funny--when I got home and was in the shower I noticed it hurting slightly and at first I thought I must have bumped my head on a rock or a tree branch but couldn't remember doing that. Eventually it dawned on me what had happened--LOL!
Anyway, for most of the way up we didn't see as much snow as we had on Lost Man, and had to negotiate some very rocky places on the trail. At one point you have to cross a pretty good sized rock field--apparently the result of a slide some years ago. There were also some really steep switchbacks, but once we got up to the top the scenery was magnificent! To get to the lake you have to cross a fast moving creek/river--not very wide across, but cold and fast! There was no log bridge or anything, just two possible places to cross, one where you had to make a pretty long jump to the other side, but the landing was pretty rocky. So we chose to cross at the other place, where you we just had to walk through the water. Davi just loved it, though, and as soon as we got to the creek he promptly plopped himself down in the water! We got up to the lake and had lunch and it was really spectacular, with these high peaks all around the lake, between 2000 and 3000 ft. above the lake. We met a really nice couple from New York and had fun chatting with them. We also ran into several people we had seen the day before on the Lost Man hike--not an uncommon experience out here. But another great hike!
When we left the parking area the trail went through some cover and lots of aspens
Lovely butterfly
Lots of lovely wildflowers!
Some amazing vistas on the way up!
That's my girl!!
Wild rushing water coming down the mountain
Really cool tree trunk and roots!
Looking down on the creek going down below
Davi: "you ready to start up again?"
Someone had built this big cairn right before entering the rock field
Looking down on the creek . . .
and zooming in a bit
Just love these columbines!
On the switchbacks near the top, looking back on the trail we had come up
And here we are at Cathedral Lake--fascinating how the sun going in and out of the clouds made the water appear several different shades and colors
The lake behinds us, surrounding by the cathedral peaks
Looking up at Electric Pass, another 2000 ft. higher--decided not to do that one today!
Coming back down the switchbacks
Just beautiful views!
This old tree trunk almost looked like a sculpture!
Anyway, for most of the way up we didn't see as much snow as we had on Lost Man, and had to negotiate some very rocky places on the trail. At one point you have to cross a pretty good sized rock field--apparently the result of a slide some years ago. There were also some really steep switchbacks, but once we got up to the top the scenery was magnificent! To get to the lake you have to cross a fast moving creek/river--not very wide across, but cold and fast! There was no log bridge or anything, just two possible places to cross, one where you had to make a pretty long jump to the other side, but the landing was pretty rocky. So we chose to cross at the other place, where you we just had to walk through the water. Davi just loved it, though, and as soon as we got to the creek he promptly plopped himself down in the water! We got up to the lake and had lunch and it was really spectacular, with these high peaks all around the lake, between 2000 and 3000 ft. above the lake. We met a really nice couple from New York and had fun chatting with them. We also ran into several people we had seen the day before on the Lost Man hike--not an uncommon experience out here. But another great hike!
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