On day two of our holiday adventure, John, Ruby and I were up early, awakened by the buzz of mosquitos swarming the outside of our tent.
We quickly made coffee and breakfast and hit the road for a day hike. We figured that the onslaught of mosquitos would be minimized as we were moving…….
The first thing we did was head straight up the mountain from our lake.
Near the top of the ridge above our lake, things flattened out a bit and we headed into a big basin. In the background is Teardrop Peak, one of our destinations for the day.
In the basin we found this giant slab of granite which we nicknamed “The Building Foundation”. Of course, Sawtooth Peak in the background.
A partial glimpse at the basin we traversed on our way to Teardrop Peak.
Off in the distance to the north, the Lick Creek Basin and the layering mountains. It has been a bit smokey here for the last couple of days, apparently due to fires in Canada.
From the top of Teardrop Peak we had great views, including Beraverdam Peak,
Brush Lake,
and the Lick Creek Drainage. Notice the lakes and ponds down in the basin we had just traversed. A careful eye can pick out the building foundation and the saddle we had just climbed into on the left middle edge of the image.
After climbing Teardrop Peak, we headed back along this ridge above the basin. That is Rain Peak in the distance on the left…. we climbed that a couple years ago. https://davefaitlemonde.com/2018/08/26/upper-duck-lake-and-rain-peak-payette-national-forest/ You might also notice that my photography has changed in the last few years….
The ridge had some very cool rock slabs and ribs along with lots of twisted trees and snags.
John traversing a slab on our way to another saddle.
At the saddle, John and I took a break and Ruby headed for a nearby snow patch to cool off.
A little further along, we found a small pond with Burnside Peak in the background.
Dropping back into Burnside Lake, we had nice views of……Sawtooth Peak!
Back in camp, Ruby choose to sunbath while John and I did some swimming and fishing.
During the heat of the day, we had a nice breeze which kept the mosquitos at bay. Once the sun set, we were all too glad to head for the tent.
More to come!
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