Memorial Day generally brings the start of the Lick Creek Mountain Range spring and summer adventures. One must patiently wait for the snow to melt and open the road less one ends up hiking endless road miles before and after a climb. Today, we needed to park about 1 mile below the parking area, not too bad.
Things are melting quickly and in this case flooding the road.
With Nicole departing for a couple days to visit family in Boise, Anne on injured reserve, Art planting his garden, Craig driving from Sequim, Scotty working, and Tom totally MIA, it was up to Jenny and I to save the day. Jenny requested a lake so off we went. Early season Lick Creek Mountain hiking can be a little bush wacky. Luckily, the orange pants are highly visible!
After loosing the trail for a while and doing some good old fashion Alder King bush wacking, we hit continues and deep snow. The good news, the brush and downfall was covered, the bad news was the snow pack was a bit soft.
Up and over the ridge we go.
At the saddle above the lake we get some of the best views in the area.
Crystal Lake!
What a glorious day we have here!
After lunch on the lakeshore, we headed back up and over the ridge. Talk about blue skies! Do not adjust your screen, that is the correct color.
We estimated that the snow here was at least 10 feet deep. As a result, we were walking above the forest and had amazing views looking up the Lake Fork Creek Drainage.
Further down the mountain we look across the drainage at (from left to right) Snowslide Peak, Platt Peak, and Golden Lake Peak.
It was a very warm day and all the creek crossings were noticeably bigger than when we crossed them a few hours ago. Jenny long ago gave up trying to keep her feet dry and just charged straight though. Early season climbing is no “give me”!
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