Day 2 ~ August 3, 2006 ~ Hike to Deep Lake, Camp 2                              

This was our first full day on the trail. We woke around 5:30am and checked out the shore of V Lake for possible sunrise photo ops. As far as we could tell, we were the only ones camped here. Well, us and the coyotes. The lake was very quiet and the sky was just beginning to show the signs of dawn. I made a quick trip back to camp to get my camera gear, scouted several spots and shot the sunrise over V Lake and Laturio Mountain. Sunset would definitely be better here at V Lake. But I wasn't going to let even one morning slip by without setting up my wood field camera and tinkering with a composition. The sun crested the mountains around 6:15am and I "burned" a few sheets of 4x5 film. There was a slight fog moving over the water's surface and the warm morning light swathed the surrounding mountains. Per my usual modus operandi, I also snapped some digital shots throughout the morning.

By 7:15am, most of the sweet light had come and gone. I packed up my camera gear, headed back to camp and boiled some water for my morning coffee. I've never been in favor of a big breakfast - coffee and a granola/protein/power bar is just fine for me. The food faire was not elaborate, but he setting was grand! I found a small rock on the shore and enjoyed both the warm coffee and the scenery.

By 8:15am, we were saying good-bye to Camp 1 and winding along the trail around the North side of V Lake. It was turning into a beautiful day with warm sun and just a few clouds. The trail alternates between wooded forest and open meadows. And we reached the shore of Diamond Lake in less than 1 hour. All along the trail, we commented on the number of great campsites (with no one occupying them). We seemed to have the trail to ourselves. This branch off the main Big Sandy Lake Trail sees much less traffic.

We began to see more people when we merged back into the Big Sandy Lake Trail. We also began to watch our backs for Jack. We expected him to catch us along this trail. He is somewhat notorious for being younger (I'll use that excuse...), in better shape, and therefore a faster hiker than most of my friends and acquaintances. But we only encountered hikers coming out of the wilderness, towards the trailhead. By the time we arrived at Big Sandy Lake, around 10:00am, we'd seen 10-12 people in several different groups. And there were at least 20 more people camped and hiking around Big Sandy Lake. We decided to stop for a break, a snack and to filter water. During our 20 minute stop, the afternoon clouds began to build and we wondered if we'd be hiking in the rain. But although the clouds were tall and cast dark shadows, they never really gathered together and we were able to just enjoy the intermittent cooling effect as they periodically covered the sun.

We made our way around the North end of Big Sandy Lake and past the junction with the Jackass Pass trail. We'd be back here in 2 days to tackle that beastly trail... The trail continues East crossing a large meadow and a small babbling stream. Then it bends towards the South, roughly following the Big Sandy Lake shoreline. We passed the junction to Black Joe Lake and crossed another stream. Soon after, we found the trail branching off to Clear Lake. We headed East again and uphill. This was the first significant elevation gain in the trail. And it is significant! It is uphill the entire way to Clear Lake. But this part of the trail was really beautiful. The trees, interspersed with exposed granite boulders, seemed to go on forever and spring green Whortleberry covered the forest floor. The beauty took my mind off the 60 lb. load on my back and incline of the trail.

We arrived at Clear Lake just before noon. This is a great location itself! The views of Haystack Mountain and the East buttress of Schiestler Peak are wonderful. And we began to get our first good views of East Temple Peak and the Lost Temple Spire. There were just a couple of tents around either end of the lake. But we hadn't seen anyone (including Jack) on the trail. We took a short break to catch our breath and eat a few snacks to fuel up for the continued climb to Deep Lake.

The trail enters some thick trees along the Eastern shore of Clear Lake. And then it surprisingly breaks out onto a series of giant, inclined granite slabs. A stream flows out of Deep Lake and gently cascades over 600 vertical feet, slipping over and through the granite on it's way to Clear Lake. The "trail" roughly follows this stream. There is little to follow in the way of a trail, but if you stay on the West side of the stream and just keep heading uphill, you won't get lost. And you'll end up at Deep Lake. We saw a number of day-hikers heading up along this route (sight distance is good). There are an seemingly infinite number of small cascades. And it was interesting to see the course the water flow chose as it made it's way downhill. I have never hiked any "trail" like this section between Clear Lake and Deep Lake. It was both fascinating and tiring. And as you crest the last slab of granite, you are treated to a view nothing less than spectacular - the dark blue waters of Deep Lake with the sheer granite faces of East Temple Peak and the Lost Temple Spire towering above.

We arrived at Deep Lake around 1:15pm. I plopped myself down on a large boulder near the shore of the lake, caught my breath and admired the view. Rick arrived shortly after and we spent some time picking a good campsite. There were not many suitable sites, but quality made up for the lack of quantity. The views from Camp 2 were simply jaw-dropping. To the Southwest we looked across Deep Lake at the majestic East Temple Peak and the Lost Temple Spire. Turn around, 180 degrees, and to the Northwest, in the distance, you could see Warbonnet Peak, Jackass Pass, Mitchell Peak and into the Cirque of the Towers, including Pingora Peak. Rick and I agreed that neither of us had pitched a tent in a location quite this scenic - amazing for 2 fairly well-traveled photographers. We were just putting the finishing touches on camp and organizing gear when a lone hiker with a big pack crested the rim of the Deep Lake outlet area. Yep, Jack had found us! Excellent! He carefully chose the spot for his tent and we caught up on the previous day's events.

After Jack got settled in, we set off on a leisurely hike around the West side of Deep Lake. There is a mostly granite ridge that separates the Deep Lake and Temple Lake cirques. The trail gradually gains elevation on this ridge as it parallels the West shore of Deep Lake. It is interesting to see the change in the appearance of the Lost Temple Spire as your angle of perspective changes moving towards the South. We continued to the top of the ridge and over into the other cirque for incredible views of Temple Lake and Temple Peak. As the sun broke through the clouds and laid a spotlight effect across the landscape, Temple Lake turned an incredible turquoise color. We were all scouting locations to return to for sunrise and/or sunset. After 20-30 minutes of wandering around the tundra, thickening clouds prompted a decision to start heading back towards camp.

We worked our way back down the ridge, marveling at the changing light. When we reached camp, we each cooked up dinner and shared good conversation while eating and lounging on a large granite slab next to Camp 2. By 7:00pm the sun began to drop and the quality of light began to change. We all started gathering our camera gear and walked over to the outlet of Deep Lake to check out compositions for the evening shoot. Jack kept walking and ended up going half-way around the West side of Deep Lake. Rick and I stayed close to the outlet. It was interesting how, given the same scene - we were standing less than 50 feet apart - 2 photographers can each select a very different view of the landscape. Rick was shooting wide angle close to the water and kept asking me if he was in my view. But I had selected a longer focal length and a tighter composition. Same location, but very different images.

Unfortunately, the light did not entirely cooperate. We had great clouds, but maybe a tad too many. Clouds blocked the sun in the west as it was making it's final decent. There would be no alpenglow on East Temple Peak tonight, but it was still an incredible evening for photography.

We waited until the last light faded and we were left standing alone in the quickly darkening cirque. We were the only ones camped in the Deep Lake area on this night. We had this magical place all to ourselves.

I crawled into my tent around 9:00pm and slept like... a rock.

Total distance traveled: 9.2 miles, Total vertical: 1329 feet   ~   Download Route: GPX, Google Earth