The next week, we drove south on Highway 93 a couple of hours to reach the trailhead for three lakes that are on the way to the summit of Trapper Peak. I had hiked Trapper Peak about 4-5 years ago with several members of my extended family on the 4th of July. Mosquitos swarmed around the lakes on that trip, but this hike was late enough in the season that we saw no insects. We did see deer & Hungarian partridges. ( If you want to enlarge any of the photos, just left click on the photo.) The hike starts fairly steep until you reach the ridge. Then it becomes quite enjoyable as you walk along the ridge toward the southern Trapper Peak.
This photo was taken as we reached the ridge & could look back at one mountain ridge after another in Montana & Idaho. There were not too many wildflowers, but plenty of Fall color here in mid-September.
We passed a few meadows on our way to Baker & then Middle Lakes, but did not see any wildlife in them.
Baker Lake is the first one you reach on this trail after about an hour of steady hiking. It is full of small trout, but we had not brought our fishing poles. We ate our lunches at this gorgeous site before heading down the trail to Middle Lake.
Middle Lake was only 45 minutes along the trail. It is more green in color, but with the same rugged beauty of Baker Lake. The trout in Middle Lake & later in Gem Lake were much bigger than in Baker Lake. All three lakes were so pristine that you could see the trout easily from the shore.
Above Middle Lake, the trail winds up a steep gully along a tiny stream before reaching Gem Lake. We met only one other hiker on this trip - Lisa. She hiked with us from Baker Lake to the other two lakes. She's in the photo below about half-way between Middle & Gem Lake. Judy, (one of my hiking buddies), had met Lisa at a rest home, where Lisa is a CNA & Judy holds a Bible Study for some of the residents. So the two of them started chatting away, as we continued to hike. When we returned to the trailhead at the end of our hike, Lisa introduced us to her pet rabbit, who was napping in her truck.
Gem Lake was an even deeper green than Middle Lake... hence its name. The trail doesn't go much further than Gem Lake, so to hike any further up towards Trapper Peak requires a lot of rock climbing. You hike above the tree-line fairly soon. Its quite strenuous, but worth the effort to see the view from the summit. However, we didn't have the time to reach the summit this day & turned back down the trail after roaming around Gem Lake awhile.
The next week, we drove south on Highway 93 a couple of hours to reach the trailhead for three lakes that are on the way to the summit of Trapper Peak. I had hiked Trapper Peak about 4-5 years ago with several members of my extended family on the 4th of July. Mosquitos swarmed around the lakes on that trip, but this hike was late enough in the season that we saw no insects. We did see deer & Hungarian partridges. ( If you want to enlarge any of the photos, just left click on the photo.) The hike starts fairly steep until you reach the ridge. Then it becomes quite enjoyable as you walk along the ridge toward the southern Trapper Peak.
This photo was taken as we reached the ridge & could look back at one mountain ridge after another in Montana & Idaho. There were not too many wildflowers, but plenty of Fall color here in mid-September.
We passed a few meadows on our way to Baker & then Middle Lakes, but did not see any wildlife in them.
Baker Lake is the first one you reach on this trail after about an hour of steady hiking. It is full of small trout, but we had not brought our fishing poles. We ate our lunches at this gorgeous site before heading down the trail to Middle Lake.
Middle Lake was only 45 minutes along the trail. It is more green in color, but with the same rugged beauty of Baker Lake. The trout in Middle Lake & later in Gem Lake were much bigger than in Baker Lake. All three lakes were so pristine that you could see the trout easily from the shore.
Above Middle Lake, the trail winds up a steep gully along a tiny stream before reaching Gem Lake. We met only one other hiker on this trip - Lisa. She hiked with us from Baker Lake to the other two lakes. She's in the photo below about half-way between Middle & Gem Lake. Judy, (one of my hiking buddies), had met Lisa at a rest home, where Lisa is a CNA & Judy holds a Bible Study for some of the residents. So the two of them started chatting away, as we continued to hike. When we returned to the trailhead at the end of our hike, Lisa introduced us to her pet rabbit, who was napping in her truck.
Gem Lake was an even deeper green than Middle Lake... hence its name. The trail doesn't go much further than Gem Lake, so to hike any further up towards Trapper Peak requires a lot of rock climbing. You hike above the tree-line fairly soon. Its quite strenuous, but worth the effort to see the view from the summit. However, we didn't have the time to reach the summit this day & turned back down the trail after roaming around Gem Lake awhile.
2 comments:
Oh this is wonderful to hear about your hike and see the beautiful pictures. What happened to a picture of her pet rabbit? Oh well thats alright I guess.
I should have taken a photo, but I was so tired at that point, I didn't even think about it.
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