Gem Lake — Saturday, Nov. 2, 2024

Attempted to hike to Gem Lake but it was slow going. Trail to Snow Lake was mostly snow covered (at times very wet and slushy). Still manageable. Once you head to Gem Lake, the snow starts in all earnest. At times it was above my knees (and I am tall). No boot path, just some boot holes I followed. Turned out it belonged to two young hikers who also didn’t make it to the lake. Too much snow. Despite the tracks, I still used my Gaia for navigation as the trail was completely covered and hidden in the snowy landscape. I was a mile away from Gem Lake when I turned around. Despite the amount of snow, these are still early snow conditions. The snow is not packed down so it’s easy to step through and into possible rock cracks. Tread carefully. Snow is in the forecast for the entire night and tomorrow. So I would be prepared for even more snow and navigation.