17.5 miles of hiking • 3000' elevation gain •
Absolutely awesome day in Indian Heaven! FR65 is wide open (at least) all the way to Thomas Lake trailhead, which is where we began our hike. We left the trail about 2.5 miles in, near Rock Lake, and just traveled cross-country much of the rest of the day. Above 4700', the ground was almost entirely covered in snow, other than where the creeks were flowing or under thick cover. We briefly jumped on the PCT, before heading towards Lemei Rock, and quickly got off-trail again as we worked our way into the ancient crater. Lacking traction and ice axes, we chose to call it a day at this point, rather than climb the last 150' to the summit. It was drop-dead gorgeous enough where we were!
The exit was much the same. Got lots of practice navigating with maps and GPS, as we rarely saw a trail. That said, even buried in snow, you could still sense the PCT presence when traveling along it. We went south as far as Blue Lake before cutting back towards the trailhead, and pulled out of the woods just before headlamps were needed. Absolutely incredible day, in a place one isn't supposed to be able to enjoy during the winter!
Comments
Roman
February 22, 2015
Drop-dead gorgeous pictures Carl! Some of my favorite places. It's great to know there's no locked gate past sno-parks.
Karl
February 23, 2015
Thanks, guys! Yeah, absolutely no issues with road access, right now. And it is just drop-dead gorgeous up there! I really don't think my photos did it justice. :-)
Woodswalker
February 23, 2015
Fantastic pictures!
Karl
February 23, 2015
Thanks, WW! :-)
Jack
February 22, 2015
good report/great pics