MURIEL
The
next morning Christy and I hiked back over to Muriel Lake. We took in the scenery there, before
continuing up towards Goethe Lake. I
scrambled up to a point northwest of Goethe Lake on the ridge between Muriel
Lake and the Wahoo Lakes. There, I was
treated to a spectacular view of Muriel Lake, Goethe Lake, the Wahoo Lakes, and
the Goethe Glacier below Mount Goethe and Muriel Peak. I thought about continuing up to the mouth of
Goethe Lake, but I couldn’t imagine that the view could get any better.
On
our way back down we ran into a solo hiker that was
camped nearby. He was very
knowledgeable, as he backpacks in Humphreys Basin most every summer. He told us all about the area and gave us
some suggestions for hikes and camping options.
That was helpful; however, Christy thought he seemed creepy. He seemed to keep tabs on all of the other
backpackers in Humphreys Basin. With
binoculars. He was an odd bird, but I
think he was harmless. Christy was
pretty sure he was a serial killer.
DESOLATION
We
returned to camp, had lunch, and packed up.
From there, we followed the trail down towards Summit Lake. The trail contours along the hillside above
the lake. The wildflowers were lovely
along here, and we crossed several streams cascading down from the ridge above. One of them flowed right down the trail for a
considerable distance, and keeping our boots dry along that stretch was tricky.
Farther
on, we picked up an unmarked side trail to Desolation Lake. There is no sign for it, but it is shown
accurately on the map. I had originally
planned to camp at Desolation Lake, but the serial killer we had met earlier
told us that sites were very limited there. We decided to aim for Lower Desolation Lake
instead. The trail passes high above
that lake. Once we were parallel with
the outlet, we left the trail and headed for it. We wandered among huge boulders, small grassy
clearings, clumps of stunted trees, and tarns surrounded by pink heather. We found numerous campsite options, but
eventually settled on a small clearing surrounded by boulders a few minutes
from the outlet. It featured a great
view back to the Glacier Divide in one direction, with Mount Humphreys towering
above us in the other. Even better, it
was hidden from the trail among all of those boulders. If a serial killer wandered by, he’d never
find us.
I
took a late afternoon hike from our campsite to the ridge above Tomahawk Lake. Crossing the outlet stream was complicated,
but I was able to rock hop it without getting wet. From there, I climbed the grassy ridge
beyond. That ridge is a giant meadow
that was full of lupine. The most challenging part of the hike was simply not
trampling the flowers. The hike was
entirely above treeline, and it featured great views
of Mount Humphreys, alpine lakes, and the peaks, snow, and ice of the Glacier
Divide. I reached the end of the ridge
above Tomahawk Lake. At that point I had
just enough time to return to camp before sunset.
I
headed straight back, and Christy and I hiked over to the west side of Lower
Desolation Lake for another spectacular sunset.
We found a great campsite there with a fantastic view across the water
to Mount Humphreys. My goal was to catch
the alpenglow on the face of Mount Humphreys.
That was nice, but the swirling pink clouds above the Glacier Divide
stole the show. It was the third
incredible sunset in a row for us. That
more than made up for the first couple of weeks of our trip, when we had
nothing but cloudless skies.
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