TRT Mile 128 to 140
Daniel forgets today is granola and powered milk day, and instead digs into the cinnamon Pop-Tarts. Oh well, nothing a Via coffee can’t wash down.
Our tents are moisture free, so we do not need a drying stop. In fact, with all these alpine lakes, we hope to stop and do the opposite with our clothes and bodies. We make our way along the island-dotted Aloha Lake, back dropped with a spectacular snow sprinkled granite wall.
Looking back towards Aloha Lake
We turn and skirt along the trail ledge of Heather Lake. Daniel and I admire a monster trout, while Brian curses the monstrous mess of loose rocks on the tread. By the time we reach Susie Lake, we are hot enough to get in. The salts and crud melt off our caked bodies. It is wonderful.
Swimming in Susie Lake
Our biggest challenge today, other than remembering to stop swimming and start walking, is Dick’s Pass. The pass is slightly under 9,400 feet, and we are significantly under that at around 7,800 feet.
At 1.2 miles below the summit we meet a woman struggling mightily. We chat briefly. She mentions that her two daughters are ahead, and their goal is the same as ours, Middle Velma Lake. We offer words of encouragement, yet walk away pretty sure we will not be seeing her at the lake.
Dick’s Lake from Dick’s Pass
We take our own snack and water breaks, but reach the vista overlook of Dick’s Lake in time for a lunch of powered hummus, cheese, and sun dried tomatoes on tortillas. Even after our long lunch, the woman behind us never crests the ridge. Will she ever catch up with her daughters?
We press up and over the summit and set our next swim target – Fontanillis Lake. The trail down from Dick’s Pass is mostly packed dirt, which is like shag carpeting when compared to the loose rock on the upside. We reach the lake and repeat our rinse cycle. Swimming, even briefly, cleans the body and the soul.
Swimming in Fontanillis Lake
We push on a few more miles to Middle Velma Lake. We meet the two daughters of the missing woman. They have come to meet us, thinking my floppy brimmed hat looks like their mother’s. The boys find that mix-up quite amusing. The best we can offer the girls is that their mother was alive, if not doing well, sometime before lunch. They seem less concerned than the situation warrants.
For dinner, Daniel and I share instant mashed potatoes, with Thai tuna, and a sprinkling of Fritos corn chips. I am not sure you will want to try this at home, but out here they’re great!
Tomorrow will be a longer day of 18 miles, targeting North Fork Blackwood Creek. It will be our first non-lake stop on this circle the lake trip.