Matrimony Tree and Summit Lake

 Maureen wrote that the 9 o'clock group had 4 people and enjoyed Summit Lake.  The pictures are from her.

 

 

 

Fisher Lake Cross Country (per John)

 

Jumbled Granite

The 8:00 group decided to put off our second attempt at climbing Tinker’s Knob and go for a mostly off trail, car shuttle hike to Fisher Lake, then on to High Loch Leven and the lesser Levens.  Five of us took two cars to the Loch Leven trailhead, where we left one car and all went to the beginning of the hike further up old Hwy 40 at Troy Road.  This is a favorite jumping off point for cross country skiers in the winter, but we saw no summer hikers until we hit the trail system at Loch Leven.  We were following a GPS trace that Frank had made a couple of years ago when he took this hike with the Land Trust.  It proved very helpful, as there was fairly soon no road, trail or ducked route to follow.  The route took us steadily uphill, but not too steeply.  Soon the country opened up into lovely high granite country with scattered trees and views everywhere.  Our first goal was the Matrimony Tree, an old Jeffrey Pine on top of a granite rise which offered views in all directions, including a dramatic look at Devils Peak, only about a mile and a half away, as the proverbial crow flies.  This spot was the site of a wedding back in the late 80’s with bride, groom and the entire wedding party on skis.  Great place to get hitched.  We then continued towards Fisher Lake, passing quite a few small lakes on the way.  The jumbled nature of the terrain made for slow, and somewhat arduous going, with much up and down scrambling and constant checking of GPS to be sure we were heading in the right direction.  We finally caught a glimpse of the lake, but we weren’t able to set foot on the shore until we had threaded our way down the very steep, cliffy rim of the bowl Fisher Lake sits in.  We all made it with no mishaps, and enjoyed lunch with a beautiful view of the lake.  I would guess that relatively few people visit this area, at least in the summer.  After lunch, it was on to another mile or so of cross country, trying to make a bee line to High Loch Leven.  Quite a few twists and turns later, we made it and rested a bit before hitting the trail (novel concept) and hoofed it back to the car.  We hiked about 9 miles, 1800 feet total gain.



Matrimony Tree
 

 

Fisher Lake
 

Next week, those wanting to hike at 8:00 can join us for a trip to Blue Lake as the starting point, then hiking out to Beyers Lakes.  We will pass the petroglyphs and continue to the lakes, which are about 6 miles out from the trailhead, for a total of 12 miles roundtrip.  There won’t be a tremendous amount of climbing, and it will all be on trail, so shouldn’t be too tough, just long.  Beyers Lakes are right under the Black Buttes, on the other side of the ridge from Glacier Lake.  We looked down on them when we climbed up to the ridge from Glacier Lake a month or so ago.     

High Loch Leven
 

Devil's Peak