Backpack to Highland Mary Lakes, July 4th weekend 2004

(all photos including map link to larger versions)

We were up for a relatively easy short backpack for the long weekend; Britt wanted to go to lakes where he could fish, and I just insisted on a nice view. The Highland Mary Lakes near Silverton seemed like the perfect destination.

We packed Saturday morning and got to the trailhead at a leisurely 2 pm or so. Good thing we didn't have far to go; it was only about 2.5 miles to the first of the lakes, and we saw many dayhikers heading down as we went up. Of course once we hit the lakes Britt had to catch dinner, so we were delayed a bit, but we set up camp at the southernmost of the Highland Mary lakes and had a nice fish dinner.

The next morning we continued to the next set of lakes, the Verde Lakes which were very green indeed. The neat part about the valley these lakes were in was that the end of the valley seemed to be the end of the pretty green and rounded world we were in; beyond it lay the deep gorge of Elk Creek and the jagged Needles. Peak 2 looked particularly impressive, a huge blunt mass of granite. We could also see Vestal Peak with its famous Wham Ridge, and Arrow, which we climbed last Labor Day weekend.

Winding around the bigger of the Verde Lakes, we followed a small trail down a draw, where we scared a deer. We crossed over the stream coming out of the Verde Lakes, which came down a small but deep and beautiful gorge (it would have been difficult to use as a route), and then climbed back up to Lost Lake, where we set up camp.

Across the lake we saw an elk cow, who eventually moved off, and Britt got attacked by a ptarmigan defending her chicks as he moved around the lake to fish. (Huge cutthroat trout swarmed in the lake, but they were too smart to be taken in by the fishing lures. No fish dinner for us! They were quite beautiful, though, flashing in the sunlight beneath the water.)

After spending about an hour in our tent to avoid a threatened storm that never quite materialized, we hiked off along the edge of Elk Creek Canyon, occasionally finding bits of trail to follow but mostly just bopping along rock and tundra. (We were at around 12,500 feet, well above treeline, so it was easy going.) We spotted quite a few elk, but none were close enough for good photos, alas. I also saw bobcat footprints in the mud, but the cats themselves must have been of the invisible variety. Lovely views down into the canyon, and some really excellent ones of Vestal and Arrow. Several snowfields still decorated the mountains, enough to do a few glissades on the way back down to camp.

The next morning we packed up and headed out, first down and then back up toward Vestal Lake. When we reached the lake we cut up toward the saddle above, past a small pile of rocks that was evidence of old mining activity. Many of the rocks glittered with fool's gold and other shiny minerals, and we scooped up a few small ones to take back as souvenirs.

Once on the ridge we could see the posts that marked the major trail, and we followed it to its intersection with the Continental Divide Trail, so as to return by a different route. Finally we were back on the "beaten path", although we saw no other hikers on the way out.

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