I always like to get a big training hike/backpacking trip in before I tackle a long distance hike. Last year I picked White Pine Lake in the Lone Peak Wilderness because it was a long round trip and it did 2500 feet of elevation gain. This year I have wanted to return to Lake Blanche in the Twin Peaks Wilderness and I settled on that. With record heat in the valley, I made haste to get an early start on the trail because the lower half of the trail gets hot by midday. The hike started out pleasant with the temps cool and the water runnning. I croseed the bridge and began the 3 miles of climbing uphill you do from that point. It was so green from our record water year and the wildflowers were just about to peak! Up to the meadow and the trail continues to climb steeply. At this point I am passing hikers that I saw start before me. My pack on this trip was 18 lbs so pretty easy haul compared to my usual pack weight of mid to upper 20's. Hitting the last meadow the last part of the climb begins and even I slowed my pace a bit in this section as it takes its toll of non stop up and up. Rdounding the corner there was the last turn on the boulder field and there has been substantial work done on this since my last visit. It is literally a set of stairs now. The last section passes the regulations sign and I arrive at Lake Blanche.
Arriving at the lake, I made my way to where I wanted to camp and found my spot open. I set up camp, fetched some water, then put my fly rod together and headed to Florence and Lillian the other two lakes at this spot. I first went to Lillian where second cast I had a nice Brookie on. On the third fish I got on it was a Grayling which I did not know were even in this lake! It was a beautiful fish! After fishing for an hour or so I moved up to Florence to give it a shot. I caught here last time in 2014 when I was here, but alas this year there was no action. There is a beautiful waterfall that I decided to go refresh myself in near the lake. It was so nice on such a hot day! After that I moved up to my camp which was now in this shade and I decided a quick nap was in order.
After a nap I got up and enjoyed the views. The fish started jumping on Lake Blanche so I headed down to toss a line. I got hit nealry two dozen times but only got six to shore. They kept getting off. But one of them was decent in size. Dusk started to set in so I headed back to camp. The sunset on this day was the best and longest I have seen all year. It seemed to last nearly 2 hours before dark set in. The moon was up at sunset so I was only able to get some images of Sundial with the peak at dusk. Dark set in and I was ready for bed. I turned in for a good nights sleep!
Morning came and I got up and had coffee and breakfast, then packed it up. It was just gorgeous weather and I got on trail early to beat the heat. The hike out was nice, but passed a ton of people coming in as I was going out. It was great to visit this place again! It has been too long since I have been here. Enjoy the pics! Check out my YouTube video below! More Adventures to come!
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