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After a 16 mile drive on a slow and bumpy gravel road, we made it to the trailhead and started hiking, climbing through thick stands of evergreens.
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After several switchbacks, the trail passes a long, lovely, flower filled meadow that provides glimpses of the peaks surround the bowl in which Lost Cabin Lake lies.
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These are wild chives.
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Enjoying the flowers, as well as the shade. It was a blessedly cool morning, ideal for backpacking.
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After about 2.5 - 3 hours of hiking (and eating lunch, and photographing), the trail reaches the meadows below the Lake.
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You always have to pause for a photo opportunity.
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A nice bunch of asters.
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The Elephant Head was remarkable in the area. Lots of nice examples.
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Roger on the final push to the Lake.
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Yes, we know it is August, but after a thankfully-normal winter, snow still lingers in the high country. Here, Joe is deciding what route to take. The rest of us opted for a bypass.
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It turns out that there is not a lot of good camping around the lake, especially if your party has a couple of tents. We found the best spot to be on the NE corner of the Lake.
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Susie and I erected our tent so that it would have shade MOST of the time.
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The east side of the lake is filled with damp meadows. A month earlier, this was probably extremely buggy. But a few cool nights had tamed most of the mosquitos.
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One delightful thing about the meadows surrounding the lake were the fields of blooming Heather.
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Big and Little Brother hanging out in a small pond. We saw evidence of mountain goats (their hair on small trees) but nothing big and white and moving. We did see a badger later this evening.
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Looking north across the Lake, with some of the peaks of the northern Tobacco Roots in the distance.
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Susie tried her hand at casting for the mighty trout. We saw several large fish, but none on the end of her line.
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Our campside is about 1/3 the way across from the right near the lakeshore.
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Rachael photographing and Joe telling her how to do it.....
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A butterfly on a yellow daisy, or something.
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Roger collecting water from one of the many inlet streams for "SteriPening" treatment. The SteriPen is much lighter than a pump/filter.
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The northeast "bay" of the lake, near our campsite.
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Flowers were everywhere along the outlet stream.
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This was a heavily used campsite, but it had the advantage of a nice log for use as a seat or table.
