We had planned a three day trip into the Crazies w/ another couple over Labor Day, but Mother Nature decided otherwise. On our way into Sunlight Lake, my buddy and wife bailed as he had a very strong onset of vertigo set in. The combination of first time carrying a large pack and an impinged nerve that was numbing his right leg I'm sure contributed. Fortunately we decided to take two vehicles or our trip would have been short as well. The climb into Sunlight is pretty brutal, you gain 4000' in just over 5 miles. The trail is nearly devoid of switchbacks, instead the trail just grinds straight up a series of steep ridges. The last mile or so before you hit the pass, traverses a very large (and steep) talus slope w/ a rocky trail that somehow clings on (in some places it had slid off which made for some sketchy foot work!)-this is where my buddy decided to bail.
As we approached the pass, the clouds rolled in and it started to drizzle. Temps dropped into the low 40's and the winds really picked up- add that up and you have the makings for a very dangerous situation. We dropped off the pass and made our way down to the lake as quickly as possible, we were slowed by more sketchy trail clinging to the side of the cirque. As we approached the lake the drizzle became rain, we had to pick a site and pitch the tent quickly. Funny how danger motivates a person, I got the tent up in record time! As soon as we got into the tent, the wind really picked up-gusts that were in the 60-ish mph range. The tent buckled very hard several times, but thank God it held. We quickly got out of our wet clothing, donned our down jackets and crawled into our bags. My wife was shivering very hard, but slowly her body temp started coming up (I had her hit the trail snacks pretty hard to help w/ that effort). Finally after about an hour and half the storm died out. When I got out of the tent I could see that it wouldn't be long before another rolled in. I got some water boiling for our supper and just in time, as another storm rolled in. The hot food was a wonderful boost. Our original thoughts of maybe catching a few trout to go along w/ our supper was now just a pipe dream. It rained most of the night and high winds would come and go. I thought for sure we'd be waking up to snow, but it must have only dropped into the mid-30's as there was no snow in the morning. I awoke early (13 hours of laying in a tent will do that
) and saw the very top of Sunlight Peak basked in sunlight. Unfortunately that was short lived (five minutes) and the clouds/fog started rolling in over the ridge. I got up and started water boiling for breakfast, fortunately it was rain free (for the moment anyways). We ate hot cereal and drank our coffee in the tent. We decided to give it an hour and a half to see if the weather would break, sadly it didn't. If you looked way down the drainage you could see sun, but at this elevation it was set in. We decided to head back out and come back another day to wet a line. The clouds/fog were so dense that I had trouble picking up the cairns that led us back up to the pass. After several missteps, we finally found the trail out. We got drizzled on most of the way out, so we were satisfied with our decision to bag it.
We're definitely going back as the country was breathtaking and I just know the cutthroats will be biting
headed up
Sunlight Peak looming behind unnamed peak
at the pass above the lake
hunkered down
a lull in the storms
on the way back down
As we approached the pass, the clouds rolled in and it started to drizzle. Temps dropped into the low 40's and the winds really picked up- add that up and you have the makings for a very dangerous situation. We dropped off the pass and made our way down to the lake as quickly as possible, we were slowed by more sketchy trail clinging to the side of the cirque. As we approached the lake the drizzle became rain, we had to pick a site and pitch the tent quickly. Funny how danger motivates a person, I got the tent up in record time! As soon as we got into the tent, the wind really picked up-gusts that were in the 60-ish mph range. The tent buckled very hard several times, but thank God it held. We quickly got out of our wet clothing, donned our down jackets and crawled into our bags. My wife was shivering very hard, but slowly her body temp started coming up (I had her hit the trail snacks pretty hard to help w/ that effort). Finally after about an hour and half the storm died out. When I got out of the tent I could see that it wouldn't be long before another rolled in. I got some water boiling for our supper and just in time, as another storm rolled in. The hot food was a wonderful boost. Our original thoughts of maybe catching a few trout to go along w/ our supper was now just a pipe dream. It rained most of the night and high winds would come and go. I thought for sure we'd be waking up to snow, but it must have only dropped into the mid-30's as there was no snow in the morning. I awoke early (13 hours of laying in a tent will do that
) and saw the very top of Sunlight Peak basked in sunlight. Unfortunately that was short lived (five minutes) and the clouds/fog started rolling in over the ridge. I got up and started water boiling for breakfast, fortunately it was rain free (for the moment anyways). We ate hot cereal and drank our coffee in the tent. We decided to give it an hour and a half to see if the weather would break, sadly it didn't. If you looked way down the drainage you could see sun, but at this elevation it was set in. We decided to head back out and come back another day to wet a line. The clouds/fog were so dense that I had trouble picking up the cairns that led us back up to the pass. After several missteps, we finally found the trail out. We got drizzled on most of the way out, so we were satisfied with our decision to bag it.We're definitely going back as the country was breathtaking and I just know the cutthroats will be biting
headed up
Sunlight Peak looming behind unnamed peak
at the pass above the lake
hunkered down
a lull in the storms
on the way back down
