Forum Index > Trip Reports > Deep Lake, Peggy's Pond, Circle Lake - 11/11/18
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geyer
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geyer
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PostThu Nov 29, 2018 8:22 pm 
Better late than never... I actually wrote this a few weeks ago, but never got around to uploading photos and was debating whether it was worth it since I'm not sure that I want to pay for Flickr Date: November 11, 2018 Distance: 12.8 miles Accum. Elevation Gain: 4570' Total Humans Seen: cuatro / IV Outdoor activities in Washington are all about windows - there's that short window in spring when snow still covers the approach and the snow in the alpine is consolidated enough for mountaineering; there's the window in summer where it's hot enough to stay out late without freezing and/or getting eaten alive by bugs; there's the window in the fall where larches gleam golden; and then there's the window that follows or sometimes overlaps - when snow has covered the ground, but lakes have not yet frozen over. When I first started hiking, it took me a few years to get the memo about the larches, but once I did, it was a game-changer. The larch window is easy to lock down however; there's usually a good weather window over the several weeks when they are changing color. On the contrary, this snow-rimmed lakes window is a sly mistress. If there's snow on the ground, it usually means the stormy season has begun and weather windows are scant. And even if the weather proves willing, my body does not usually cooperate after months of abuse. But this year I made it a mission of mine to seek out this fickle window and nothing was ailing. Initially, I wanted to make it out to a rather hard to reach lake in the north cascades, but with daylight being as short as it is, I changed my mind and headed to the Alpine Lakes Wilderness.
Forest road was amazingly still clear
Forest road was amazingly still clear
Waking up at 5 am after daylight savings time ends isn't too difficult, but it also is not nearly early enough to catch the first light from a distant trailhead. As such, I only began hiking at about 8:10 am. A couple hours later, I was on the ridge and I had reached my first view of an alpine lake with snow around it - Deep Lake... Oddly enough, it wasn't as satisfying as I thought it would be. The lake elevation was too low, and the snow on its surrounding trees was mostly melted after a few days of sunshine. So I trudged onward.
at the meadows
at the meadows
Deep Lake
Deep Lake
On the traverse under Cathedral Rock, I crossed paths with a guy who had started earlier than me who got discouraged with the amount of postholing he had to do and abandoned his Daniel summit attempt. He said Peggy's wasn't frozen over. Interestingly, I had completely forgotten that I would pass by Peggy's Pond since my thoughts were totally focused on Deep Lake and Circle Lake. This was basically just an added bonus up.gif
Peggy's Pond
Peggy's Pond
I didn't' actually see Peggy's until I was up on the ridge to Daniel, but WOW what a sight! On the ridge, there were three more younger guys who had set out to summit Daniel, but decided they didn't have enough daylight left. (Honestly, if I had set out to summit Daniel, I would have definitely still gone for it even though I was an hour behind them, so I was silently judging them... Sorry guys, if you're reading this, but that's just me.... errrm I mean, Way to stick to your turnaround time! paranoid.gif )
The crew I met up on the ridge
The crew I met up on the ridge
Some nifty wind patterns
Some nifty wind patterns
I continued past them on the ridge because the best views of Circle Lake were yet to come. And oh boy, did they come!
Deep Lake
Deep Lake
Circle Lake peaking through
Circle Lake peaking through
Little wind slab action
Little wind slab action
WOW
WOW
Runnels
Runnels
Lemah, you bastard
Lemah, you bastard
Stuart
Stuart
Ok that's an awaesome view
Ok that's an awaesome view
Peggy's
Peggy's
Since I wasn't going for Daniel and I didn't have enough daylight to traverse over to the ridge between Venus and Circle, I decided to head back to the car once I reached about 7020'. Regretfully, when I got back to the Cathedral ridge, it was about 10 minutes before golden hour and I decided to keep heading down so that I wouldn't have to hike too much in the dark. Welp, from what I would tell between the trees, it was an incredible sunset!!! It really stinks that it gets dark so early now. I had to turn my headlamp on before 5 pm!
Cathedral with golden hour starting
Cathedral with golden hour starting
When I decided that there wasn't going to be a good sunset and headed down
When I decided that there wasn't going to be a good sunset and headed down
umm..
umm..
oh crap those are colors aren't they?
oh crap those are colors aren't they?
and they kept getting better
and they kept getting better
dammit. :|
dammit. :|
When you still want to see the sunset but you're below treeline
When you still want to see the sunset but you're below treeline

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awilsondc
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awilsondc
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PostThu Nov 29, 2018 9:06 pm 
Looks like a fulfilling day in the mountains! Love the photos, as usual, especially those wind swept snow black and white photos. What ever you're doing to get those shots, keep it up, you're on to something! up.gif up.gif up.gif

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fourteen410
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fourteen410
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PostThu Nov 29, 2018 10:53 pm 
geyer wrote:
I actually wrote this a few weeks ago, but never got around to uploading photos and was debating whether it was worth it
Well I sure think it was - thanks for the eye candy!

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HermitThrush
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HermitThrush
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PostFri Nov 30, 2018 6:45 am 
Very nice.

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Nancyann
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Nancyann
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PostFri Nov 30, 2018 11:06 am 
I hope the Flickr issue doesn’t keep you from posting your wonderful pictures in the future. Maybe we should take up a collection for you at the social agree.gif .

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Bootpathguy
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Bootpathguy
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PostFri Nov 30, 2018 11:35 am 
geyer wrote:
Beautiful! up.gif

Experience is what'cha get, when you get what'cha don't want
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geyer
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geyer
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PostMon Dec 03, 2018 9:48 am 
Thanks for the compliments, all!
Quote:
I hope the Flickr issue doesn’t keep you from posting your wonderful pictures in the future. Maybe we should take up a collection for you at the social agree.gif .
Haha I can afford it, I'm just starting to think all these subscription based services are getting out of hand irked.gif

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cascadeclimber
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cascadeclimber
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PostThu Dec 13, 2018 10:07 am 
Wonderful photos. Thanks for sharing.

If not now, when?
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Matt
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Matt
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PostThu Dec 13, 2018 12:14 pm 
Peggy's and Deep are surprisingly pretty with the first winter snow.

“As beacons mountains burned at evening.” J.R.R. Tolkien
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