[Nancyann]

Kitya suggested that it would be nice to see some shorter and simpler trip reports on the forum, so I’m glad to oblige! I have been contemplating trying out my horse’s fly spray on myself because it seems to work well for them, so what better week to run a few tests? I kicked off the week by picking the hottest day of summer, Monday, July 30th to tackle Rock Lake, with good-natured Hiking Partner, who unlike me, carried enough electrolytes. The biting flies were waiting for us anxiously and were able to get in numerous stabs while I was feverishly applying the horse spray. Although it did seem to deter them somewhat, there were other, much smaller blood suckers that were obsessed with taking up residence in my eyes. DEET seemed to worked better for them. During the testing, I managed to snap a few pictures.

Rock Mountain 7/30/18

Rock Mountain 7/30/18

Rock Mountain 7/30/18

Rock Lake 7/30/18

Rock Lake 7/30/18

Rock Lake 7/30/18

Wednesday, August 1, the second day of testing went much better. I chose Hope Lake, famous for blinding hordes of mosquitoes waiting in ambush for hapless PCT hikers. Since there were no biting flies, I skipped the fly spray and bolted up the trail to Mig Lake,where a cool breeze provided respite. This was a good day.

Hope Lake 8/1/18

Mig Lake 8/1/18

Mig Lake 8/1/18

Mig Lake 8/1/18

Mig Lake 8/1/18

Mig Lake 8/1/18

The third day, Friday August 3rd, was mercifully cloudy and drizzly, so the biting flies were subdued when Triciaann and I ventured up the brushy road to Minotaur Lake. Neither one of us had been to this lake before, so naturally we missed the turn and ended up driving through a paint-scratching alder tunnel until we ran into a Forest Service worker in a pickup truck who had to back all the way down to a turnaround at the Snowy Creek Trailhead. Thankfully, she redirected us to the correct road. This was a short and very steep hike, but didn’t bother me as I was using the Rock Lake Trail I did on Monday for comparison on the misery index. We expected a barrage of bugs when we arrived at the lake, but a chilly breeze put a damper on all but the most ambitious. I was unable to tell if the fly spray was effective during Friday’s test. However, despite the clouds and cold wind, we found the lake to be quite appealing. I have a feeling it might be one of those “bro” lakes though, as evidenced by an empty beer can sitting in the middle of the trail.

Minotaur Lake 8/3/18

Minotaur Lake 8/1/18

The final day of testing was yesterday, Monday, August 6th. I was able to recruit Hiking Partner again, and we headed up Deception Creek to Deception Lakes. This trip involved many hours of walking, and was a great opportunity to really get some good testing done. Before hitting the trail, I generously applied the horse fly spray, let it dry, and then sprayed another layer of DEET on top of that. This seemed to be working quite well until I fell into Deception Creek while fording it. Actually, it was such a hot day that I was quite pleased with myself for finding such an excellent way to cool off. The mosquitos reigned supreme at Deception Lakes, so I applied DEET instead of fly spray, and we bailed up the old PCT to Surprise Gap, where a heavenly cool breeze revived us. On the way, I snapped a few more pictures.

Deception Lake 8/6/18

Deception Lake 8/6/18

Deception Lake 8/6/18

Old PCT from Surprise Gap 8/6/18

Glacier Lake from Surprise Gap 8/6/18

Glacier Lake from Surprise Gap 8/6/18

Glacier Lake from Surprise Gap 8/6/18

In conclusion, my findings were inconclusive, due to so many variables, however, I did manage to have a blast exploring some very beautiful country with two of my favorite people!

[kitya]

Lots of lakes! Thank you! For Deception lakes did you start on deception creek th on hwy 2, but walked back on surprise creek trail???

[Nancyann]

No, Kitya, we cheated a little and picked up the Deception Creek Trail from F.S. Road 6830, a very long and paint-scratchy road. Then we just backtracked the way we came, for a total of about 14 miles round trip. However, if we were to use two vehicles, which we may do later this month, we could do a very nice backpacking loop from Surprise Creek up and over Surprise Gap, or use the new PCT through Pieper Pass, down past Deception Lakes and out Deception Creek. There are a variety of cool side trips and peaks that can be done along the way as well.

[kitya]

Thank you! I didn't even know about this road. The lakes look pretty good, I might check them out someday too!

[RichP]

That's a nice tour of lakes. The bugs are getting back at us after a couple of years of being pretty mellow in my experience.