Chris and I had permits for the North fork of Big Pine Creek for this weekend as a back up
to climb Polemonium Peak. Since we got Polemonium the first weekend we tried, we used the
permits for a leisure weekend since we love that area so much. We decided to hike up to
some lakes we'd never been to, on a short loop. We were
glad we did, since Summit Lake
soon became our favorite. Great view!
At the start of the hike, this is the view up the South Fork of Big Pine Creek. The two highest peaks
are Middle Palisade (a 14er) on the left and Norman Clyde Peak on the right.
The trail through the aspen trees.
Chris on our picnic rock.
The view of Second Lake. Our camp was to the left of the waterfall in the back corner of the lake.
The 14ers we've climbed can be seen here too!
Chris enjoying lemonade... or is it glacier water?
Chris getting ready to go swimming...
Okay, it was cold, now he's contemplating going swimming...
Oh! He convinced himself to dive in!
All freezing cold!
Us at our campsite with Temple Crag behind.
We actually had clouds for sunset!
Bright colors!
This strange old tree trunk is just left with it's skin. You can see places where limbs were on the
outside which connect to the knots inside.
Chris coming up the trail on our short loop day-hike.
Corn Lilies
A view of the 14ers!
Summit Lake with a view of all those peaks!
... and there we are!
We hiked up a little mound to see what we could see from it, there are 4th Lake and 5th Lake.
Jigsaw Pass is in the middle of the picture.
Sam Mack Meadow is at the bottom of the picture here. The route to the right, in green, is the way
we went up, climbing Polemonium. The route on the left, in blue, is the way we went last year,
climbing the other 14ers. There was a LOT more snow last year.
From our camp.
This is the view from where our tent sat.
Temple Crag again with Second Lake in the foreground.
Chris had to get a closer look.
Heading out.