Participants: Chip, Gordon, Jenny, Cristina, Kristina
Conditions were forecast for hot and increasingly smoky with a chance of showers or storms in the afternoon.
For such a day, Galatea Lakes seemed like a good option since we could shorten things up by just doing Lillian Lake if necessary. Most of the trail is well shaded and a good portion is near a turbulent stream so that kept us cool and with nice green scenery with plenty of flowers.
We met a little earlier than normal in order to beat both the heat and potential parking issues and thus were on the trail before 9am and at Lillian around 11am. Having several birders on the trip had some small impact on trail speed but much was learned at the same time!
After snack break at Lillian Lake, we headed up the short but steep trail to the first Galatea Lake. During the climb we noticed a helicopter acting strangely. First it hovered over the trail, then landed at Lillain Lake, then circled the valley several times. We later learned from another group that an Inreach had been set off and an emergency message was sent reporting a plane crash. Conjecture abounded for a while but we did not see or hear any evidence of such an incident thankfully!
We had lunch at a spot with good views of the upper lake and endured a few drops of rain, which we agreed was more cooling than anything. The views around the lake and to the immediate peaks were good; however, we could see the smoke was getting worse down the valley.
After lunch, we completed the circumnavigation of the lower lake and dropped down to the campground at Lillain Lake via a more direct and steeper unofficial trail (fairly well established). Lunch and our subsequent descent to Lillian, provided us with many viewings of Pika and several Hoary Marmots.
After another break at Lillian Lake we headed back down the valley, encountering a surprising number of folks still heading in – both day trippers and backpackers. While we had all done this trail previously, it had been many years for most of us. We agreed it was a worthwhile revisit and a great choice given the weather forecast. Whether the smoke/cloud cover or slight change in forecast, the cover and coolness along the stream made for pleasant conditions. At the end, we debated the actual number of bridge crossings we had done, as it is quite high. No one claimed to have a perfect memory so Google provided the answer later – 11 bridges! Maybe this will help someone win at trivia night. Thanks to all for joining us!
(Pics to come)