Eschewing slowshoes, we wade boot-top snow to Rapid Lake.
- November 10, 2018
- Team: Bro, Bird, and Boo (Tom, John, and Art)
- Rapid Lake, 7238'
- 7.8 miles, 1815' gain, 5:33 hours car-to-car. Class 1
Note: click images to see a larger version in a new window
We met at Tom's at 8am, then slid our way up Boulder Road to the trailhead. 4WD wasn't absolutely necessary, but it was helpful. There was a couple inches of snow on the trail, and previous footprints, too. |
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It wasn't terribly cold, maybe 20°. But we were still excited to see the sun coming. |
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Lots of water ice on the hillsides. And the trail. |
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When we got up to the lake, the sun was out. So of course, we headed across that decrepit footbridge and into the tall trees. |
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| Boulder Lake is only partially frozen over. |  |
The last tracks we were following turned to do the Boulder-Louie loop, so we were now busting powder on our own. Two miles to Rapid Lake. |
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Breaking trail was some work, but we were having fun. |
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Bird and Buckhorn. |
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Rapid and Ruby. |
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| Looking back at Boulder Lake. |  |
| Another trail sign (and intersection). |  |
| Clouds moving in as we traverse the hillside toward Rapid. |  |
| A last splash of sunshine on "the backside" of Jughandle Mountain. |  |
Creek crossing. We could hear the water, so didn't want to get more intimate.
Panorama below of Rapid Lake with Rapid Peak in the background. There had originally been discussion of climbing the peak, but the snow squalls and old Sam's fatigue convinced us to call it a day. |
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| So it was time for lunch. We were a comedy of errors finding the necessaries. But once they were produced, Art promptly had a fire going so he could roast his pizza slice. Tom on the left. |  |
Bird on the right. Ruby was under my legs, wrapped in my puffy and shivering. She's fine as long as you don't make her sit still. Then not enough fur or body fat. |
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I felt sorry for my pup, so we broke up our gab session and started back. The water ice proved more difficult to descend than it had been to climb. About here we ran into several groups doing "the loop" (the Boulder-Louie lakes loop). One group had no packs. The other was in running shoes. Both were late in the day. And neither really knew where they were going. C'mon, people! I may be old and grumpy, so don't make me come looking for you. |
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| Map
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