Most viewed - "Epic White Cloud Backpacking Loop" revisited (again!), August 19, 2024
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DSCF1008.JPG2 viewsNow you see why it was named Island Lake.
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DSCF1020.JPG2 viewsI stay to the right here, avoiding unnecessary exposure, sticking to the most solid rock to gain elevation before contouring to the first saddle above the snow patches.
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DSCF1021.JPG2 viewsThe higher two tarns, well below.
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DSCF1023.JPG2 viewsI don't recall how steep these slabs are. I don't remember thinking this would have been a faster route. Hard to tell from the photograph.
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DSCF1028.JPG2 viewsNE down Big Boulder Creek. This photo is the next drainage E of the route I ascended from Island Lake in photo DSCF1024.
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DSCF1029.JPG2 viewsNE down Big Boulder Creek, from above the lower saddle, below the crossing. The clouds dapple the view with shadows.
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DSCF1030.JPG2 viewsI head further E along the ridge, looking for the best place to start my descent into Boulder Chain Lakes basin. This was the spot I chose to make the crossing. It is marked by the distinctive rock 'fingers' jutting E from the pink granite boulder.
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DSCF1035.JPG2 viewsHere sits Derek, on a boulder (since he offered me his chair), posing for his portrait. He is setting up camp in a great place I have camped before, after taking a swim. He walked in from Fourth of July Creek trailhead, via Devil's Staircase, this morning.
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DSCF1036.JPG2 viewsA rare shot of the author, with leg bloodied by a move on the descent that was a bit too dynamic, being updated on weather and fires by his neighbor. He shows me a few of the luxuries he carried in, including a chair and pillow. I'm tempted to stop right here and enjoy the camaraderie, but I know there is a trout with my name on it waiting for me at Scoop Lake, twenty minutes up the hill. I'm told nobody is there.
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DSCF1046.JPG2 viewsCloser (200 mm) on the previous day's descent route; the 'cheese grater'. Again, I prefer the solid rock to the scree trails. Solid handhold on steep terrain offer so much comfort.
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DSCF1047.JPG2 viewsThe wide end of the telephoto (55 mm) on the previous day's descent route; the 'cheese grater'. This descent involves good route finding and an ability to judge what will go, and what will not.
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DSCF1048.JPG2 viewsThe Z Pack Duplex fit snugly into this spot near the outlet of Scoop Lake.
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