[polarbear]

The road up to the lake was covered with snow most of the way to the trail head. Because of this I was driving slowy and noticed the cairn hatching grounds on the west side of the river. There were no cars in parking lot when I arrived. Up to the ridge the trail was mostly snow covered with a few bare sections. It started out as an overcast day, but the sun broke through making for some really nice scenery. When I reached the ridge the clouds were aways below me, but throughout the day they continually threatened to rise up out of the valley. On the other side of the ridge I followed footprints and cairns to the lake. The lake was frozen with a bit of snow on the surface and Stuart had specs of snow on it. On the way back when I reached the ridge I hiked up it aways for some good views of the slowly setting sun. I got back to the parking lot just about as dark was falling. The drive back down the road was a bit easier as some of the snow had melted in the afternoon.

ingalls