Since Taylor will be leaving us for college in a couple of weeks we figured we needed to get out for a little father/daughter time. We chose to return to the location where we had started our backpacking adventures back in 2003 - Box Lake, outside of McCall. We never made it to the lake that year - it was still frozen!
We pulled up to the trail head at 11:00AM on Friday to find it completely full. There must have been eight vehicles there! After I finished cussing, we decided to take our chances and head up.
And up and up. We had forgotten how steep the trail was, after all we hadn't been there in seven years. Luckily it clouded up and there was a nice breeze blowing, making for perfect hiking weather.
We took our time on the climb and had to move out of the way for several groups coming down the mountain. Seems like we timed it right since we counted close to 20 people and three horses leaving the area.
And up and up. We had forgotten how steep the trail was, after all we hadn't been there in seven years. Luckily it clouded up and there was a nice breeze blowing, making for perfect hiking weather.
We took our time on the climb and had to move out of the way for several groups coming down the mountain. Seems like we timed it right since we counted close to 20 people and three horses leaving the area.
After a couple of hours we reached the high point of the trail and looked down on Box Lake. It was all downhill from there.
Even though many people had left, the main campsites were all taken. We had talked to a couple who were leaving and they told us about a nice spot on the other side of the lake. So after a half hour bushwhack, we arrived at the other end of the lake and a nice camping spot. By this time the weather had cleared and we enjoyed hanging out for the evening.
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| Alpenglow on Friday Night |
Saturday morning (Taylor didn't wake until 9:30 - teenagers!) dawned clear with a nice breeze - perfect climbing weather. The plan was to climb a peak in the area and then do some exploring. After an hour of trudging through brush and deadfall trying to find access to a clear ridge, we decided to give up on the peak idea. We made a quick detour to camp to pick up the fishing gear and headed down to a couple of lakes a short distance away called Sister Lakes. We spent a couple of hours here catching small brook trout and eating lunch. Taylor even showed her skill by catching a couple.
The rest of the afternoon was pretty much spent lying around camp talking and reading. Once the sun went down we had a fire going while we had dessert - Apple Cinnamon Crisp - delicious!
Before we knew it Sunday morning rolled around and it was time to leave. Unlike going in, it was a little warmer on the way out. This did not stop us from enjoying the walk out and stopping for this picture overlooking the lake.
Hopefully, Taylor will have time during her summer breaks to take dad out for another trip.
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