Reflections on Gem Lake
Sunday morning the sun beat down on our tent. I got out and put the rain fly
on around 8am, then set myself to the task of filtering water.
I found the process much slower than usual. I opened the filter to see if anything was
visibly wrong, but I couldn't find anything. It was just incredibly slow.
It must have been clogged somewhere but I didn't know how to fix it. So the rest of
the trip we cleaned most of our water by boiling it. Luckily, I'd brought plenty
of extra fuel.
View of the mountains to the east
After breakfast and boiling water, we didn't head out until nearly 10:30am. We
left our campsite to do a loop day hike, our packs much lighter now of course.
Jewelry Lake
We began by heading along the main trail toward Jewelry Lake. It wasn't even a half hour
before we reached it. We stopped near the lake to eat. Some horsepackers went
by. After resting, we continued along the mostly flat trail.
Creek between Jewelry and Deer Lakes
Next up was Deer Lake -- prettier and larger than Jewelry Lake. Two men were
fishing on some rocks jutting out into the lake. We stopped on the shore to
begin the futile task of trying to filter water. It wasn't any better. But at
least we could enjoy the scenery while we were there.
Filtering water in Deer Lake
Deer Lake
After a long break, we continued along the trail, passing the intersection for Salt
Lick Meadow. Shortly thereafter we reached another intersection, this one
unsigned. I assume this is the spur trail to Long Lake.
Horsepackers letting their horses stop for a drink
We were going at quite a slow pace, 2 miles in 2 1/2 hours. Originally, I'd
planned a 7.5 mile hike which included a trip to Buck Lake. However, we didn't want
to arrive back at camp too late, so we decided to cut our trip short and make a
smaller, 5 mile loop. We turned right and headed down to Wood Lake. We were glad
we did.
Resting next to Wood Lake
Small tree growing out of the rocks
Wood Lake
We arrived at beautiful Wood Lake at 2pm. We wouldn't leave until almost 4pm.
A peninsula juts out into the lake, shaded by tall trees and sporting ample areas
in which to sit and take a nap next to the gentle waters of the lake. We
immediately did just that. Amazingly enough, we only saw two other people while at
the lake --
one horsepacker following the trail on the other side of the lake, and someone
washing themselves on the west side of the lake. Other than that, it was just us.
In fact, we wouldn't see anyone else on the rest of today's hike.
Peaceful Wood Lake
Peninsula in Wood Lake where we rested
Trees along the peninsula
The lake extends eastward, but we couldn't see most of that section of the lake as
it was meadowed in. The section of lake we could see was just fine for us. We
eventually pulled ourselves away to begin the hike back. We headed east along the
trail, which criss-crosses Buck Meadow Creek a few times. The trail then climbs
above the south shore of the creek, following it for a couple miles. Along the way
we had views to the north of the granite walls and peaks we'd seen earlier in the
day. We spotted a small snake swimming in the creek, and later on a family of deer,
but no other wildlife. I'd taken along my 300mm lens, but never found reason to
use it.
Heading back along Buck Meadow Creek
Eventually, the trail descends and then crosses the creek again. I was worried
that the trail back to Gem Lake wouldn't be signed, so I kept looking to my
right to make sure we didn't miss it. I needn't have worried, as we soon found
the sign. We turned right and headed up bare granite marked by cairns. After
200 feet of climbing, we returned to Gem Lake and our home sweet home camp site.
Late afternoon light
Jean heading to the lake
Lake afternoon reflections in Gem Lake
We had rice, tuna, and couscous for an early dinner. Afterwards I took a short walk along
the south side of the lake, enjoying the late afternoon light and taking several
photographs of the granite walls reflecting in the water. The camp site here was
now vacant, but it would have been too much trouble to move our site. Besides, our
campsite was probably the best at night (just not during the day, when the sun beats down on it).
Waiting for sunset
Reflections in Gem Lake
As the sun set, the clouds to the east lit up a dark pink color. I took a picture,
knowing full well that anyone who saw it would think I used some filter to make this
"fake" picture. The fish started jumping in the lake, we brushed our teeth with
boiling hot water, took the rain fly off the tent, and went to sleep.
Sunset. Yes, that's the real color. I didn't even use a polarizing filter!
Clouds reflecting in Gem Lake
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