Rachel & Rampart Lakes, 11/23/07
Party: Matt, Mike T, Lynn G, Richard B
What a difference just eleven days can make. In the time since my previous Rampart Lakes trip, the waters froze, new snow fell, and the skies cleared.
Date: 11/12 11/23
Sky: Cloudy, Dim, Gray Clear, Bright, Blue
Precip: Freezing Rain Dry
Trail: Bare or Slush Ice or Snow
Waterfalls: Running Frozen
Rachel Lake: Dark Wind-Blown Waves Shiny Clear Fresh Ice
Rampart Lakes: Gray Ice patterned White Snow patterned
with White Snow with Tree Shadows
Horizon: Gray Mist White Peaks
Hiker: Chilly Comfy
Photos: Blurry Sharper
Satisfaction: High High
Valley Trail:
Creek Waterfall:
Cliff Waterfall:
Rachel Surface View:
Rachel Elevated View:
Tea Tarn:
Waterfall Lake:
Waterfall Lake downlake:
Christmas Lake:
Zen-Christmas Channel:
Zen Island
Zen Lake:
Long Lake South Island:
Ripples on Long Lake:
Rampart Outlet Creek:
(Further down I've added new posts with more pics and the story of today's trip, inlcuding a dim ending.)
-------------- "Matt, you are truly full of it. But you take great --- pics, in spite of that." Scrooge
Joined: 02 Mar 2003 Posts: 8568 | TRs | Pics Location: Going to Tukwila
Sat Dec 01, 2007 8:27 am
Nice! I like the contrast between the two sets of pictures....
-------------- "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke
"Ignorance is natural. Stupidity takes commitment." -Solomon Short
Earlier I posted comparison photos from this trip and my previous trip eleven days earlier.
Now here's the story of how today's trip went, plus photos unique to this day.
The trail began in morning shadow, but blue skies promised hope above the trees and sunshine slid down the valley walls toward us. The recent clear calm weather was evident all around. Several inches of undisturbed powder snow flocked the wide needles of the conifers and perched in cottony fluffs on the bare limbs of the brush in the avalanche tracks. The creek was lined with ice and steamed golden where the morning sun struck.
Creek crossings had narrowing channels of water running over and under the ice, all contoured in flowing shades ranging from crystal clear to thickening gray-green to frosty white. At one crossing, the ice was just thick enough to hide the stepping stones, but too thick to support hikers, making for a chilly splash-dash passage..
The rapids and waterfalls were a frenzy of frozen spray, hanging icicles, and layered coats of ice. The trail required creative footwork in many sections, where runoff had frozen to hard ice.
Rachel Lake was a surprise. Eleven days ago it was dark wind-ruffled water. Today it was flat calm ice, banded by successive rings of of snowy ice, gray ice, and crystal clear brand new ice. From above it reflected the sun with eye-watering brightness. As we hiked higher, the sun’s impact filled the valley below with a sea of fog.
Up at the Rampart Lakes, the snow had fully overrun the lakes. Only the contours of the shoreline and islands marked the location of each lake. Under clear skies, the trees cast long shadows across the lakes, and the surrounding peaks stood up around the horizon.
Now, however, I experienced a shocking betrayal. At the first major lake, my companions sat down on a comfortable snowy viewpoint and declared that they were perfectly content to just relax there for a break and then head back down. Apparently they weren’t thrilled at the idea of descending the icy trail after sunset. But what about my ambition to circumnavigate all the lakes and find a high point for viewing them all? Isn’t that more important than a few falls on hard slick steep ice? How to resolve this terrible divergence of goals?
The rest of the story is just a little farther down the page.
-------------- "Matt, you are truly full of it. But you take great --- pics, in spite of that." Scrooge
So the mutineers relaxed and I hurried. They wandered a bit and proceeded back at a leisurely pace, detouring toward the opposite end of the ridge to watch some hikers on Alta. I scurried around the lakes as fast as I could, racing from one photo vantage to another.
I skirted the upper end of Waterfall Lake, where the waterfall still kept an oval of water open. Above the waterfall, Christmas Lake was just a flat surface of white snow, except for its outlet pool. The channel between Christmas & Zen Lakes was speckled with snowy rocks and bright sheets of ice, reflecting Alta in the distance. Rows of icicles stretched across the rock bands above.
I headed up point 5530 to get a view above the lakes:
Shadows outpaced me back along the Zen Lake shoreline. By 2pm, the low winter sun had already dropped behind the ridge crest.
I circumnavigated Long Lake by hiking up the far side to check the farthest pools.
Then I paused for a self-portrait and tea, and rejoined our tracks for the trip out.
Rachel Lake and the valley formed matching seas of ice and fog. The last bit of open water at the lake’s end caught reflections of the ridge above.
Then it was down from sunlight into the valley sea of fog.
I guess I’ve lived too long in the Pacific Northwest. The dim misty forest felt relaxing and friendly, like a comfortable blanket wrapping around me as I hiked out.
-------------- "Matt, you are truly full of it. But you take great --- pics, in spite of that." Scrooge
Nice photos. You demonstrated great strategy in handling the mutiny. In days of yore the general would scuttle his ships, thus necessitating the march forward. What would the modern day equivalent of this be--impounding the snow shoes?
-------------- Touron is a nougat of Arabic origin made with almonds and honey or sugar, without which it would just not be Christmas in Spain.
Joined: 15 May 2003 Posts: 12260 | TRs | Pics Location: Truth or Consequences, NM
Thu Dec 06, 2007 1:52 pm
Wow, Torok must be gettin' old. Why back in my day, that boy'd be all over them thar hills.
I like your summit tea photos. They all very similar - I mean it is a cup of tea - but I like them anyway, and would think something's amiss without 'em.
-------------- "The next couple of miles smelt like burnt turkey and kept reminding me of thanksgivings with my ex-wife. "
chris-mbhc, NWHiker's Bulwer-Lytton contestant for 2011
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