Crystal Lake Backpack

Angie, Cami and I backpacked to Crystal Lake in the Mt Adams Wilderness in August. This was a 15.4 mile trip with ~2000 feet of elevation gain. We started at the Stagman Ridge trailhead on the west side of Mt Adams.

This area is absolutely beautiful. We were surprised by the number of other backpackers we saw at this "hidden lake". We also saw our first black bear in the Pacific Northwest. I was walking near our campsite when I saw movement ~30 yards away in my peripheral vision. Then to my amazement I small black bear wandered out of the trees. He saw me and instantly bolted...which I was very happy about! My heart was racing for a good 20 minutes after seeing the bear.

Here are some pictures from the backpacking trip. We hope you enjoy them.

Sunburst through the forest.

Our campsite above Crystal Lake.

Looking north to Mt Rainier. The lupine was at peak bloom.
More wildflowers. We are not sure what type these are, but they look like miniature bear grass blooms.

Sunset over the Goat Rocks area.
Angie, Cami and Mt Adams.
Angie, Cami, Scott
Alpenglow, Mt Adams.

Sunset over Mt Rainier.

Sunset over Crystal Lake.

Mt Adams during twilight. 30 second exposure.

Lupine and Indian Paintbrush around Crystal Lake.

This was a very nice meadow with a great view Mt Adams. This was on the Stagman Ridge Trail.

Stormy Lake Backpack

Angie, Cami and I planned a 5 day, 34 mile backpack to Mink Lake in the Three Sisters Wilderness of Oregon in early August. Our starting point was the Irish Lake trail head on the Pacific Crest Trail. It took ~4.5 hours to reach the trail head from Portland. After arriving at the trail head, we were immediately "greeted" by the worst mosquitoes we have ever seen and were bitten several times.

Our goal for the day was to get to Stormy Lake, which was ~5 miles from the trail head. The mosquitoes did not let up one bit while we were on the trail and we soon were wearing long sleeve bug shirts and full head nets. We made it to Stormy Lake just before sunset and the bugs finally let up as we made dinner.

Here is a night photo of the Big Dipper over Stormy Lake. Irish Mountain is in the background being illuminated by the moonlight.

The following morning we awoke to rain hitting our tent and a few rumbles of thunder. There was no rain in the forecast, so we were not sure what was going on. We thought we would wait out the rain and move on to Mink Lake later in the day. Well, the rain didn't let up and we decided we would stay put at Stormy Lake and start for Mink Lake in the morning. The only good thing about the rain was that it completely shut the bugs down.

Here are a few photos from around the Stormy Lake during one of the brief periods where it wasn't raining.

Our tent is the light orange object in the middle of this photo. Yeah I know you can barely see it!!

Scott, Angie and Cami on the shore of Stormy Lake.

We woke up early the next morning expecting the weather to have cleared, but we were disappointed to find it was still pouring rain. We made the executive decision to head back to the trail head that day and spend the rest of our time off in Portland. This was a beautiful area for backpacking and we hope next time to get better weather.