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Adventure no.035 | Next Photo >>
July 28, 7:00 p.m. - It took me six hours of driving — albeit very scenic driving — to reach Clear Lake. It would have been more enjoyable if I hadn't been feeling the effects of a nasty cold. Fever. Shakes. Coughing. And so on. I had no business heading for the backcountry, but I kept telling myself I was on the tail end of my cold. It would be gone by the time we started hiking — or so was my delusion. There was simply no way I would miss what promised to be the best backpacking trip of the summer.
Located near Silverton in the Mineral Creek area, Clear Lake turned out to be a wonderful car camping area (accessible via high clearance 4WD only). The plan was to meet Kevin here, set up a quick camp, go to bed and get up early to start our hike to the Ice Lake area. As I drove towards the lake, I saw Kevin strolling the colorful tundra with his camera. The first word he said to me was, "Wow!" Neither of us had ever visited the area before, and we were stunned by the wildflowers below and around the lake. We hadn't even started our hike and we were already filling up our memory cards.
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