Wedgemount Lake
As a pre-wedding trip (May 3), Ariel, Johnny and I decided to head up to Wedgemount Lake for an overnighter. After packing up our gear we started the grueling 4500ft ascent to the lake which is well above the tree line. Since it was still early spring, we made sure to bring our shovels, avalanche gear and beacon (safety first!). Good thing we brought our snowshoes since there was snow all the way up.
We emerged from the tree-line into the alpine at around 6pm and took our time climbing up the final part of the trail to the lake which is at about 6500ft. Not many people are up there this early in the season and we only met one other group heading farther on up to overnight on the Wedgemount glacier. The lake was totally frozen over with way over a meter of snow still on the ground - there weren't even any footprints anywhere. We could see avalanches coming down in the surrounding mountains all afternoon.
We flattened out a nice area with our shovels and setup camp before it got too dark, and then spent the rest of the evening watching the stars. During the night, we had trouble sleeping because of the growling - we thought it was polar bears, or maybe the elusive mountain yeti - but after turning on the light we discovered it was Johnny, who apparently snores like a chainsaw.
In the morning, there was not a cloud in the sky and we decided to take advantage of the great weather and attempt to summit Mt. Cook (one of the easier peaks next to the lake). Unfortunately we only made it about half way up before turning around. To make things worse, none of us put on sunscreen and we all got baked. Marie wasn't too thrilled with my burn, 7 days before our wedding.
We spent the rest of the day packing up and slogging back down to the parking lot. Mission successful.
Enjoy the PICTURES!
As a pre-wedding trip (May 3), Ariel, Johnny and I decided to head up to Wedgemount Lake for an overnighter. After packing up our gear we started the grueling 4500ft ascent to the lake which is well above the tree line. Since it was still early spring, we made sure to bring our shovels, avalanche gear and beacon (safety first!). Good thing we brought our snowshoes since there was snow all the way up.
We emerged from the tree-line into the alpine at around 6pm and took our time climbing up the final part of the trail to the lake which is at about 6500ft. Not many people are up there this early in the season and we only met one other group heading farther on up to overnight on the Wedgemount glacier. The lake was totally frozen over with way over a meter of snow still on the ground - there weren't even any footprints anywhere. We could see avalanches coming down in the surrounding mountains all afternoon.
We flattened out a nice area with our shovels and setup camp before it got too dark, and then spent the rest of the evening watching the stars. During the night, we had trouble sleeping because of the growling - we thought it was polar bears, or maybe the elusive mountain yeti - but after turning on the light we discovered it was Johnny, who apparently snores like a chainsaw.
In the morning, there was not a cloud in the sky and we decided to take advantage of the great weather and attempt to summit Mt. Cook (one of the easier peaks next to the lake). Unfortunately we only made it about half way up before turning around. To make things worse, none of us put on sunscreen and we all got baked. Marie wasn't too thrilled with my burn, 7 days before our wedding.
We spent the rest of the day packing up and slogging back down to the parking lot. Mission successful.
Enjoy the PICTURES!
posted by Marie & Tom at
10:37 PM
