DESTINATION Generic 245 Photosets
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| Black Joe Lake to Lake 11185, WY | |
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| | Black Joe Lake to Lake 11185, WY | | | |
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Black Joe Lake to Lake 11185, WY
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| Hiking | 8.80 Miles |
3,000 AEG |
| | Hiking | 8.80 Miles | | | |
| 3,000 ft AEG | | | | |
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| partners | | We did an off-trail adventure today to Lake 11185 which is below Wind River Peak. The trip was about 8.8 miles and 3000 feet accumulated elevation gained.
We awoke to a bit cooler morning and a wind. The wind made it so that no one would want to climb any peaks.
We started off going to the west end of Black Joe Lake and crossing over the top of the dam sluice structure that had been in place many years and looked in spots like it could fall apart at any moment. The main structure was actually in pretty good shape and we made it across.
From there we had to hike up and around an escarpment. In places we had to scramble up using our hands. I remember thinking that it would be fun (not) going down it later in the day. At the point in which we weren't going to go up any further there was a great lookout spot. We could see the area where our camp was which was well hidden in the trees and Haystack Mountain as well as a few other peaks. We could almost see the whole lake, except that it curves a bit.
From there we headed back down to the beach and then walked either lakeside or in the forest around to the far side of the lake. We were sometimes following a route and other times we were not. We took a break and looked down the lake and also at the peaks we were going to be heading towards.
After Black Joe Lake there were a couple more lakes nearby. We skirted them and then rose up onto a hillside to avoid some brush and trees. We stayed on the hillside for a while and walked on some parched vegetation. We finally had to descend down to the creek bed which was probably glacier carved because it was very flat and wide. Sprinkling the landscape were boulders in varying sizes from small, to car sized, to bus sized, and then even courthouse sized! We had to cross a boulder field and the creek to get to a spot where we'd split into two groups. Some of us were to go to check out a lake and glacier under Temple Peak. The rest of us were heading up higher to a lake and to get a glimpse of the Wind River Peak and Black Joe collier. This would be the birth place of Black Joe drainage.
Our group headed up a stream and crossed it using some boulders. Then we reached a small lake. From here we could see some water coming down from our destination lake. However the boulder field that the water went through was very steep and we decided to avoid it. It appeared we could bypass it by following an older drainage, that might not be used by water as often, which did an S curve up to the lake.
Again we had to cross a boulder field all while climbing in elevation. This trek was not for the weak as it was a tough climb in the high elevation not counting the boulder hopping. We then reach a small blue lake that was startling beautiful with the backdrop of grey granite walls and boulders. We took a nice break before heading up further to our destination.
We traversed and climbed up another large boulder field to a ridge over looking our goal, Lake 11185. We could see some wolf teeth peaks next to Wind River Peak, the collier, and the lake. It was amazing. It is hard to explain how something lacking in the rainbow of colors can be so awesome. The walls were rising straight up to the Continental Divide. They were very sheer and grey. The glacier in the collier was also a grey. Then the lake was yet another startling blue. It was so beautiful it was hard to leave when it came time. Luckily we were able to spend a long time there having our lunch and resting for our trek back to camp.
We found a route down that avoided some of the boulders but we still had a lot of boulder fields to go through. When we finally got out of the boulder fields it was a relief as they require a lot of concentration. We were all becoming weary. The wind was also starting to fry our nerves. Now we were walking straight into the wind. We took another break at the top end of Black Joe Lake before finishing our journey home to our camp. We all huddled behind a long log to eat our snacks.
The last part of the journey was fairly easy going until we reached the spot where we had to climb back up around the escarpment. At that point, I could tell that my legs were starting to feel tired from three days of hard hiking. I was going to be glad to be back to camp. We again paused at the lovely overlook. This time the lighting was just perfect. I was able to get a shot of Black Joe Lake wrapping itself around Haystack.
Back at camp we made tea and then went to filter water and rise off. The wind made getting clean a challenge. Luckily we don't really care if we don't get to clean:).
After dinner, Scott read to us about the discovery of Fremont peak, which was once thought to be the highest peak in the Rocky Mountains. It was first summited by white men during explorations for the Oregon trail which passed south of the Wind River range.
Before bed, the nearly full moon came out. So we had to get some moon shots to round out our day. |
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