August
3, 2006
Day 2 – V Lake
to Deep Lake
Distance:
6.5 miles
Elevation Change:
+1300 ft
Images: 17
Trail -
V Lake to Deep Lake
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Camp 2 -
Deep Lake
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Camp 2 -
Deep Lake (zoom)
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Day 2, 5:30 am
V
Lake is situated such that it makes for a better
sunset location
than sunrise (the image here was taken at
sunset during my last visit). Notwithstanding, waking up near the shore of the lake and
walking down to watch the morning unfold is a treat. As the sun made its
way up over Schiestler Peak and faintly painted the face of
Laturio Mountain, Scott set up his
4x5 to make a few images while I lollygagged around the south end of the
lake enjoying the quiet, cool
morning. Mist came and went on the surface of the lake, and when the sun
finally chased it away, we grabbed a small bite to eat and broke camp
heading out for Deep Lake.
Day 2, 8:30 am
Departing V Lake, the
trail remained flat as we made our way past Diamond Lake about a mile up
the trail. Like the trail the night before, we passed through alternating
sections of warm, sunlit meadow and cooler forested sections. The morning
was perfect, mostly clear with just a few clouds and temps working their
way out of the 50s into the 60s before settling in the low to mid 70s. We
saw no other hikers along this section and enjoyed the quiet morning hike
as we crossed meadows and streams.
We stopped briefly at Diamond Lake as Scott captured a couple of images
with his digital camera, and I made a mental note of a picturesque spit of
land – replete with a lone stoic tree - that reaches into Diamond Lake
with the impressive Schiestler and Temple Peaks visible off to the east.
I’m not sure why I didn’t take a picture then – maybe too preoccupied with
envisioning how it might look at sunset…
Just past Diamond Lake,
the trail merges back into the Big Sandy Trail, and we hoped to run into
Jack along the route. We reached the northwest shore of Big Sandy Lake 2
miles later and shortly before 10am; we stopped for a short break and a lite snack. With no sign of Jack yet, we put our packs back on and headed
for Deep Lake.
Day 2, 10:15 am
The trail remained flat
as we made our way around the north end of Big Sandy Lake. Shortly after
starting out again, we came to the junction that leads to Jackass Pass and
the Cirque of the Towers. Man, did it look steep! I was glad to be
passing by that trail instead of climbing it, but the reprieve was short
lived….
We continued past the
turnoff to Black Joe Lake and crossed over some small
streams
as
we worked our way
through a wide meadow on the
east/northeast side of the lake.
A little
further
down the trail we came
to the turnoff to Clear Lake and Deep
Lake and began working our way up a
fairly steep section of
the trail. At this point,
the
80-lb pack became
ever-present in my mind
and I knew that the leisurely part of our trip had ended.
The trail to Clear Lake
is mostly forested with a lush carpet of
whortleberry painting the forest
floor a vibrant and textured green. At this point, Scott worked his way
ahead as I settled in at a slower pace. I met up with him again about a
mile later to take a break on the north side of Clear Lake.
As we rested
a little and grabbed a lite
lunch around noon, we were treated to inspiring
views of East Temple Peak and the western flank of Haystack
Mountain. Still no sign of Jack…
Day 2, 12:00 pm
With packs back on, we
headed on toward
Deep Lake,
making our way around the east end of Clear Lake as clouds began consuming
a lot of real-estate in the afternoon sky.
Here endeth anything
remotely resembling “level”.
From the end of Clear
Lake, the trail breaks out of the trees and climbs steadily up towards
Deep Lake. The trail here is not really a trail at all. The area between
the two lakes is comprised of steep and spectacular exposed granite face.
The waters from the outlet of Deep Lake cascade, slide and pool all the
way down the shelves and slabs of exfoliated granite making their way to
Clear Lake below. Cairns dot the landscape, but aren’t really
necessary. Although the trail is invisible,
you simply need to
continue working – and occasionally stair-stepping - up the granite face, the cascading water
leading
the way to Deep Lake. I stopped frequently
(uh..to take pictures,
yeah…that’s it!) resting on flat rocks framing naturally-formed pools
that would make
even the most spectacular man-made backyard water features seem
inadequate.
Exhausting or not, this
part of the trail is one of the most incredible and intriguing sections of
trail that I’ve ever hiked.
Shortly after 1:30, the
trail crested and I arrived at Deep Lake, meeting up again with Scott who
had found a nice perch from which to take in the views. And the views
were spectacular! Good spots for camping
are hard to come by in the rocky terrain, but after a little searching we
found a relatively flat area that would accommodate the 3 of us near the
outlet of Deep Lake.
From this spot, we had
a remarkable view across the lake to Temple and East Temple Peaks,
and
the Lost Temple Spire. Turning around 180 degrees and we were
rewarded with impressive views into the Cirque of the Towers.
Neither Scott nor I could recall having ever set up camp in a more
dramatic, beautiful location.
As we were pitching out
tents and taking in the views, we finally caught sight of Jack coming up
over the crest. He joined us in setting up camp and then we all took a
short rest before heading out to do a little exploring.
Day 2, 3:15 pm
The three of us headed
out along the west side of Deep Lake
following the
trail as it climbed
up
to a ridge offering incredible views of Temple Peak. Once up on the
ridge, we could see down into Temple Lake which turned a remarkable
turquoise color when the sun made its way out from behind the clouds.
The combination of the
impressive
scale of Temple peak
and the unexpected color of
Temple Lake made for an
awe-inspiring scene. I now wished that I had brought my large format
camera up the trail
instead of just my
small point-n-shoot digital. Scott and I shot images from near the
ridge while Jack when down near the lake to scout out compositions for
sunrise and sunset.
Clouds continued to
build, some looking
like they had the potential for bringing strong rain, and we headed back
towards camp for some dinner before preparing to shoot sunset. I
wasn’t feeling very well, but was excited about breaking out the 4x5 and
spent a little time exploring compositions near the outlet of the lake as
we worked our way back. It was going to be a tough decision whether
to shoot back towards the Cirque or across the lake to Temple and East
Temple Peaks…
Day 2, 7:00 pm
Scott and I decided to
work the area close to the lake’s outlet, while Jack wandered up the trail
that we had hiked earlier in the day. Although Scott and I were shooting
from the same vantage point, the complex nature of the lake’s outlet with
its pools, cascades, rocks and grasses allowed for any number of unique
compositions. While my large format was setup aiming towards Temple and
East Temple Peaks, I also worked some digital shots looking back into the
Cirque of the Towers and of Haystack Mountain.
It had been a tough
day of hiking, I was pretty much tapped, but the sunset was beautiful and
getting to work the large format during a beautiful sunset was the perfect
way to end the day. By 8:45 or so, the last of the light faded and we
packed up our gear. Jack returned shortly after that and we all turned in
for the night.
Intro
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Day 1
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Day 2
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Day 3
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Day 4
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Day 5
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Day 6
