Saturday, 09-Sept-2023, and Sunday, 10-Sept-2023
I absolutely adore alpine lakes. High elevation ponds and pools and lakes and streams… there’s something about the water against the mountains that just sets my soul singing.
One of the first places that I wanted to backpack was a spot in the Presidential Range in New Hampshire called “Lake of the Clouds” – While I was in school in Boston it always seemed an unattainable goal… but now, backpacking in the Cascades… you know, it’s a very attainable goal to spend an evening by a stunning alpine lake.
Jess, Stevie, and myself headed out on Friday evening. We made camp at the trailhead a fair bit after dark, but got ourselves to bed quickly… though not so quickly that we didn’t take some time to appreciate the calm, the quiet, and the stunning starscape that was wheeling around above us. Maybe a hundred miles from light pollution isn’t a bad spot to stargaze, let me tell you.
The next morning dawned lovely – breakfast was had, tents were repacked, and boots laced up. Then, inward into the mountains!
A neat bit about this trail – it’s not a standard trail, and actually cuts through some private ranch-land. Technically, the trail itself is a private trail (from what I understand) but the landowners are positive toward backpackers making use of it. There was even a nice little sign thanking the landowners for access!
The first portion of the trail was lovely, smooth, and flat – basically going through meadows. Some trees, views of the mountains in the distance… all good things, and a great slow warm-up for the ascent that followed. Up the side of the mountain, and then… out into the alpine meadows, following a river to Warm Lake itself.
The trail continues on, supposedly, out to the peak that overlooked our camp. We discussed the option of heading up to it, and Stevie even considered it for Sunday morning, but after debate we chose to lay low and stay relaxed – the views that we already had were really all we needed.
Evening came, the stars came out, and somehow we found even better stargazing than we’d had the previous night.
The a gloriously chill morning, excellent breakfast, and a beautiful hike back out. As a quick side-note, I adore out-and-back trails. It may seem counter-intuitive, but I find them to be more interesting… because you get the opportunity to see the “same trail”, but from the literally opposite viewpoint facing the other direction.
Instead of a slow warmup through the meadows and into the mountains, we had a elevated descent through the mountains and then out into the meadow. Watching the cliffs recede behind us, the grasslands spread out before us… and the dreams of side-of-the-road fried food for a post-hike dinner.
It was a rather excellent trip.
