DESTINATION Myrtle Peak & Lake Trail #286 - IPNF 1 Photoset
2025-10-03 | | -
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| Hiking | 10.64 Miles |
3,163 AEG |
| | Hiking | 10.64 Miles | 5 Hrs 10 Mns | | 2.13 mph |
| 3,163 ft AEG | 10 Mns Break | | | |
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| no partners | | Last week, Bruce and I had been trying to figure out what peak we were looking at while hiking back from Trout Lake. We determined later that it was the Myrtle Peak area, and I added it to my list. I had a good track, but it seemed like people were starting from two different spots along the road. Looking on satellite view, I knew for sure my truck could turn around at the lower parking area, but I wasn't certain about the upper parking at the true start of the trail. I opted to park at the lower area and walk the road. Turns out, I would have been fine to park at the upper parking, but walking the road got me into double digit mileage for the day, so it was okay.
About a 2 hr drive from my house. 37 degrees to start, but no breeze. One truck was already parked at the upper parking, but it looked like it had been there all night. Never saw who it belonged to though, so I'm not sure where they were. The start of the trail is slightly obscured, but the trail itself is fairly distinct. Wet vegetation had my pants wet from the knees down within minutes, but it dried pretty quickly after about a mile.
Easy ascent to start, then it got steeper. Hiking through the granite was fun. The trail got vague in places but was always easy to figure out. The trail leveled off after the steepest part of the climb. Great views and nice fall color. Stepped over two or three downed trees, but nothing difficult. The trail got steeper again the final few hundred feet to the summit. The spur trail to the summit was obvious and very short. It initially looked like I might have to scramble over a few boulders, but the trail wove between the rocks and popped out at the summit. Incredible views in all directions, made even better by crystal clear air. The hike from the trailhead to the summit is fairly easy, and is a worthy hike even if you skipped the lake.
But I was not skipping the lake today, as I wanted to complete the entire trail. Continuing along the main trail, past the summit, it started to descend steeply off the north-northwest side or Myrtle Peak. The temp dropped to probably around 30 degrees in the shade and the trail was frozen. Not icy, but frozen, down to about 6700'. After the steep descent, the trail leveled off for a while, then dropped steeply the final few hundred feet down to the lake. Someone had brought horses all the way to the lake, with plenty of evidence along the trail.
The lakeshore had limited options to walk to the edge, lots of vegetation, and muddy. I could see some fresh moose tracks in the mud. I picked my way around part of the south edge of the lake, but still didn't find any great shoreline. After that, I worked my way back west, a little higher, stumbling across a great campsite. I pulled my phone out to take pics of the campsite, but when I looked up, I saw a moose. We startled each other at about the same time. The moose (female) ran towards me as I jumped behind the closest tree, trying to still take pics with one hand, and reaching for the chest holster with the other hand. Luckily, after running about 30-40' towards me, the moose stopped, then turned and ran the opposite direction, crashing through the brush. At that point, I cut straight from the campsite over to the trail and back uphill. There were fresh moose tracks on the lower part of the trail, so it must have been on the trail behind me as I was exploring along the south edge of the lake.
Reclimbing the 1100' from the lake back to the peak was not too bad. Every 100' of gain, I congratulated myself for getting through another 9% of the climb, and before long, I was back just below the summit. After that, it was an easy few miles back down to the trailhead. I crossed paths with two women about halfway back, but they were not from the truck I had originally seen.
This was a great hike, and definitely one I would do again. |
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Autumn Foliage Observation Moderate
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| Stop crying and just go do the hike. |
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