- Joined
- Nov 15, 2009
- Messages
- 343
Yesterday my son and I decided to go for a dayhike into the North Cascades. We settled on a little alpine tarn located on the Bear and Pinnacle Lakes trail.
We headed to Bear Lake which is a paltry .5 miles from the TH. As it turns out, Bear Lake was very pretty and quiet.
We brought the fishing poles along but since the lake is so close to the trailhead we decided on heading up the trail to Pinnacle Lake for some increased solitude. Along the way we ran in to some rather large old growth that had been trimmed off the trail.
Views of Bear Lake as we climbed up the trail and circumnavigated the lake.
Some large Devil's Club leaves and some Blueberry bushes
Once we got through the 1100' of elevation gain the trail leveled out into some nice meadows with several small tarns.
We reached Pinnacle Lake and found a nice flat rock to have some lunch. PB J's, carrots, fruit leather and some animal crackers for the lil' man
I brought my Solo Stove kit with Trangia and Esbit nested but elected not to fire up a cuppa' tea...after 20 minutes or so some rain clouds started rolling in over Mt. Pilchuck rather quickly which made me decide to finish lunch and get going back down the trail. I had my USGI poncho and the boy had his rain gear but we decided that we didn't want to play in the rain that day.
Some Becker content to make it relevant...the Niner came with but didn't see action, other than a few beauty shots.
Back down the trail and we ran in to some old tracks in a boggy area...not sure who made them. Maybe Raccoon? It was hard to decipher as the tracks were old and the camera didn't help things either
All in all, a great day. The boy racked out 5 minutes down the road after we got back to the truck. 4+ miles and 1100' gain.
Next week we are headed out as a family for a 4 night backpacking extravaganza somewhere in the N. Cascades. TBD.
We headed to Bear Lake which is a paltry .5 miles from the TH. As it turns out, Bear Lake was very pretty and quiet.
We brought the fishing poles along but since the lake is so close to the trailhead we decided on heading up the trail to Pinnacle Lake for some increased solitude. Along the way we ran in to some rather large old growth that had been trimmed off the trail.
Views of Bear Lake as we climbed up the trail and circumnavigated the lake.
Some large Devil's Club leaves and some Blueberry bushes
Once we got through the 1100' of elevation gain the trail leveled out into some nice meadows with several small tarns.
We reached Pinnacle Lake and found a nice flat rock to have some lunch. PB J's, carrots, fruit leather and some animal crackers for the lil' man
I brought my Solo Stove kit with Trangia and Esbit nested but elected not to fire up a cuppa' tea...after 20 minutes or so some rain clouds started rolling in over Mt. Pilchuck rather quickly which made me decide to finish lunch and get going back down the trail. I had my USGI poncho and the boy had his rain gear but we decided that we didn't want to play in the rain that day.
Some Becker content to make it relevant...the Niner came with but didn't see action, other than a few beauty shots.
Back down the trail and we ran in to some old tracks in a boggy area...not sure who made them. Maybe Raccoon? It was hard to decipher as the tracks were old and the camera didn't help things either
All in all, a great day. The boy racked out 5 minutes down the road after we got back to the truck. 4+ miles and 1100' gain.
Next week we are headed out as a family for a 4 night backpacking extravaganza somewhere in the N. Cascades. TBD.
), bombproof construction and surprisingly comfortable for a pack without a hip/kidney belt. It's even got an axe loop for those "bushcrafty" type trips. Highly recommended. :thumbup:
