No bugs, no bugs, no bugs! How often can you say that on a hike in August? The morning was relatively cool, there was a nice breeze and the result? Yup! No bugs!
We breezed through the White River entrance a little after 8 am. After stopping up at the Sunrise visitor center for a mountain photo op and to use the bathroom we hit the trail.
The primo wildflower season has passed in this area, but there were still a few patches of lupine, some paintbrush, and a few alpine daisies. Enough to satisfy me. We set off under somewhat cloudy skies, but they quickly parted, leaving us with bright sunshine. It was a gorgeous morning on the trail, and we ran into few other hikers.
We stopped and goggled at Clover Lake before pushing on to Hidden Lake. There were only two other hikers on the shores of the lake, which allowed us to easily find a spot around the bend all to ourselves. We found the perfect "lunch rock", which jutted out into the crystal clear water. As we sat munching our sandwiches we heard some shale clatter on the ridgeline across the lake and up the hill. We paused and looked, but didn't see anything.
A few minutes later my eyes drifted across the ridgeline again and caught movement. My eyes widened and I do believe the words out of my mouth were, "Holy shit, is that a bear?" Yes, that was a bear. Nimbly picking its way across the shale field. We had, unfortunately, forgotten the binoculars and my 100mm macro lens just doesn't have the reach to do it justice. After crossing the rocks the bear settled itself into a green patch, no doubt grazing on some tasty berries or some other such treat.
We packed it in shortly thereafter. After returning to the main trail I convinced my husband to go as far as Dick Lake, but we turned back there. Palisades Lake will have to wait for another day. A gorgeous day, stunning alpine lakes...does it get any better than that?
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