[Gil]

So another beautiful weekend in Eden. Tom P. and I got to show Frank B., a colleague from Cameroon on a fellowship in Seattle, a slice of the Alpine Lakes Wilderness. Through a newcomer's eyes turned out to be a great way to see this stunning land for the first time (again). First, decisions, decisions. Frank is an athlete and had done some hiking back home and had already been up to Barclay Lake. Where to go that wouldn't be packed with people on a truly gorgeous weekend but wouldn't be too far from town or lengthy to get to? I had wanted to go up to the Necklace Valley, but I thought that might be a tad far. So we settled on a trip up U.S. 2 to Fisher Lake, with a side trip up to the Ptarmigan Lakes or beyond. So not too early Friday morning, off we went. Stopped at Der Baring Store to fuel up on a scramble special, get a quick history lesson from the proprietess and sign the register. Got Frank to kiss the goat to ensure a safe trip (for some reason, I didn't take a picture with my camera). Frank dubbed it the "store with a soul."

Baring store

We got to the Tonga Ridge trailhead at an embarrassing hour of the early afternoon and set off. Nice way to start Frank off with NW-style backpacking -- the relatively flat trail past Sawyer to NP camp. We ran into a little trouble there finding the trail to Fisher -- lots of side trails running hither and thither, plus some confusing footprints in the snow -- so bushwhacked up over the nob and hit the trail up there. Then back down to Fisher Lake. A couple and their son were camped at the first site you come to, but we got the large one just beyond, set nicely back from the lake but with a great view.

Camp 3

Someone had built quite a firepit there, even though it's above 4,000 feet. We had a swim -- well I did, anyway, Tom and Frank had a small splashing of the armpits -- then a little half-hearted casting for trout. One followed my lure in on the first cast, but that was it. Tom had cleverly forgotten his fly rod just so that he could attempt flyfishing by hand. The fellow in the first site said he'd only caught one so far. Then came dinner and excitement. First, it's tradition on an overnighter with Tom: I lose my hat, and he cuts his finger. We accomplished that in the first four hours of the trip. Note the surgical-like quality of the wound dressing.

Unkind cut

Dinner sorta kinda made up for that: Tender chicken breast cooked with green and yellow bell peppers and spices on a bed of brown rice, chased with a nice pinot grigot.

Dinner

Anyway, a post-dinner aperitif accompanied by stories from Alaska (bears and trappers) and Africa (adventures on Mount Fako and elephant totems) and off to a sound sleep. Woke up none too early, and only then because a chipmunk was sitting on my chest. An absolutely beautiful morning. We messed around camp a bit, a few more fruitlless casts, packed up to make the return easier, then set off up to Ptarmigan Lake.

Morning

It was pretty straightforward, mostly on trail over and down to the main lake (we didn't go to the upper lake). So pretty. It's the kind of place I could spend a whole day just watching the play of light on water and rocks.

Ptarmigan2

But we had decided to get up onto the ridge of Terrace Mountain to look over into Lake Clarice, so off we went bushwhacking. We were about halfway up in the creek drainage and I had just told Frank that he was probably about the first person to be on that exact spot, when we heard voices! There they were -- two guys filling up water bottles on a climb of Terrace. We leapfrogged them and continued on. We broke into the open on the ridge and had just a marvelous walk to a view of Clarice. A little while to savor the scenery and nosh a bit, then it was time to go.

Bushwhack 1

Clarice 1

Ridge 1

Ridge 2

Back down through the main basin to Ptarmigan, then back to Fisher. We stopped for a swim -- OK, I swam, Tom dunked and Frank humored us -- and had a brief chat with the climbers we had seen earlier, who were on their way out. The folks in the next campsite had been up to upper Ptarmigan and said there were lots of frogs there, an indication that they weren't being eaten by trout. Then we donned packs for the uneventful 5-mile slog back. Ran into some tracks in the snow on the ridge back to NP Camp -- looked like 3-4 people and a dog -- Sadie? Up to this point, Frank had been a little reluctant to trust his footing in snow, so we had tried to stay off it as much as possible on the Terrace ridge. But when we got to what was probably going to be our last little snow slope, we prevailed upon him to try a standing glissade. A little arm waving, but he made it down upright! Way to go, Frank! Last couple of miles along the ridge past Sawyer as the sun set. Then off to a beer at the Base Camp Lounge in Index and burgers in Monroe. Along the way, introduced Frank to the Indigo Girls and Gordon Lightfoot. In return, I got to know something about Cameroon's topography (Fako is 4,075 meters!) and myth structure (Frank told us how the family totems work there). Combined with his insightful analysis of the 2004 U.S. election and his comparison of American and Cameroonian attitudes toward jobs for young women, well it was the most mind-expanding weekend I've had in a long time. We'll try to get out again before he leaves in August. Happy hiking, everyone!

[JimK]

Nice report. Looks like you guys had some solitude at Fisher. I expected to see more than 4 cars on Saturday morning. Yep, those were our tracks. Four hikers and Sadie.

[Tazz]

great report! sounds like Frank enjoyed his time.