So-called "Epic White Cloud Backpacking Loop", August 24, 2020
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DSCF0282.JPG13 viewsAt 5:50 pm, just a few minutes from Cirque Lake, I feel a sense of both relief and accomplishment safely crossing into the Big Boulder Lakes basin. The light is fabulous with the passing storm.
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DSCF0283.JPG12 viewsSapphire Lake and below that, my destination; Cove Lake.
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DSCF0284.JPG17 viewsAbove Cirque Lake looms the saddle I crossed in the height of a thunderstorm, just an hour before. After descending to Cove Lake, I hurry to get the most important things out of the way; tent, food hung, water pumped. No sooner do I accomplish these tasks, all hell breaks loose; thunder, lightning, wind and hail for forty minutes. The storm moves east before dark, and with half an inch of hail on the ground, I am able to start dinner. No fishing this evening!
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DSCF0285.JPG17 viewsSunrise; inlet, Cove Lake at 9842’. Not a trace of last night’s storm. Today will be a layover day. I intend to fish, and relax—something I have not done since starting out two days ago. There are lakes close by I have yet to visit. Two years ago I camped in this very spot, and the fishing was great.
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DSCF0286.JPG17 viewsSunrise; saddle between D. O. Lee Peak and WCP9. In the foreground, reflections, inlet stream, Cove Lake.
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DSCF0287.JPG16 viewsSunrise; west side Cove Lake, south of inlet.
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DSCF0288.JPG16 viewsSunrise; inlet, Cove Lake.
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DSCF0293.JPG22 viewsMy tent in morning light; Zpacks Duplex 2. At 2 ¾ lbs, with the stronger spruce fabric option, a ground cloth, stakes, and using trekking poles for support, this is the lightest shelter I have used, easily withstanding the driving hail of last night’s thunderstorm. Yes, I had trouble trying hurriedly to drive all 8 stakes to the hilt in the cramped space with a thunderstorm bearing down. Fortunately, there were enough rocks to back up the less secure placements. The tent made me a fan of trekking poles!
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DSCF0295.JPG27 viewsThe perennial snowfield at the most westerly part of Cove Lake. Note the fish ring on the right!
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DSCF0296.JPG22 viewsMorning light, reflections; inlet, Cove Lake.
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DSCF0297.JPG23 viewsI always wonder how big the fish is that makes a ring like this…
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DSCF0298.JPG22 viewsMorning light, reflections; looking east across Cove Lake from the inlet.
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