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Rocky Mountain Ramblers Association

Trip Report
Trip Date:
18-Sep-2020
Activity:
Trail hike
Trip name:
Zigadenus Lake
Coordinator:
Ron
Report:

The drive to the mountains was rather smoky so we knew the long distance views were not going to be stellar. Never-the-less we had a rather nice day traipsing through forest, meadows and larches. It was cool at the start, 4C, and there was the rather long and uneventful trek up to Temple Lodge before coming out of the trees at Halfway Hut. The nearby surrounding peaks were visible if somewhat hazy. At Boulder Pass we were entertained by a pika scurrying around through the rocks:




Pika at Boulder Pass

The view of Ptarmigan Lake opened up:



Ptarmigan Lake from Boulder Pass

You may be able to see the small black dot in the middle of the lake in the above photo; as we proceeded along the lake it swam closer and turned out to be a loon:



Loon on Ptarmigan Lake (Skoki)

It was joined by another and we were treated to a serenading loon call. We continued along the lake and saw some cottongrass showing off its fuzzy seed heads:



cottongrass along the shore of Ptarmigan Lake

We missed the turnoff to Packers Pass trail by a few meters but knew enough we had to be heading upslope:



Nancy & Anne traverse the fireweed on the way to Packers Pass

We reconnected with the trail and then descended from the pass towards Zigadenus Lake. The larches were in prime condition and made a nice contrast to the glacial blue of the lake:



Anne, Zorica, Barbara & Nancy above Zigadenus Lake

It was about 1pm when we stopped for lunch on the rock slabs just above the lake where there was great views of Ptarmigan Peak above with its source glacier for the lake and the Wall of Jericho to the west.The lake was absolutely calm and formed a perfect mirror of the surrounding peaks, as can be seen in this photo looking down towards the lake:



Zora walking back up from Zigadenas Lake, which is reflecting Wall of Jericho

After lunch we had a look down to Myosotis Lake showing off its namesake forgetmenot blue colour:



Myosotis Lake with smoky Skoki Mountain in distance

At the overlook one of the trees was festooned by what looked like pure white cotton batting:



probable mountain goat inner fur

We considered going down to Myosotis and around to the Deception Pass trail, but decided to forego the extra distance that would entail and returned via Packers Pass. But not before enjoying a little immersion in the golden forest:



Nancy among the larches

The hazy views and fall coloured vegetation were enjoyed on the return and it was now quite warm (enough to dip hot feet in Ptarmigan Lake), finished off by the long trudge through the trees and down the ski-out road. My feet were happy to see the parking lot after the 24 km trip.

Thanks for braving the lighter-than-expected smoke and joining me for this trip into a scenic part of larch country goes to Barbara, Nancy, Zorica (pika & loon photos) and Anne. Ron, Coord/scribe/photos.
Flora report: there were still a number of flowers in bloom, mostly fleabanes and and groundsels, plus those gone to seed and mushrooms in the forest:




purple fleabane




anemone fuzzballs




Fireweed living up to its name




Puffballs (?) along the forested trail to Boulder Pass


Fauna report: nothing big, the aforementioned loons and a pika, plus a golden mantled ground squirrel and a very dark red squirrel in the fir forest.