Carne Mountain to High Pass (page 19)

On the climber's route above Triad Lake

Negotiating around the rocky cirque to the snow field was the worst of it; the rock was every bit as loose as it had looked. But with care and a little route re-selection now and then, we eventually reached the snow slope whereupon I gratefully plopped down upon my behind and took a well-earned break. It looked quite feasible to drop down to the lake from this cirque, but I certainly had no desire to do so. What goes down would have to come back up.

Would you believe that we met another group going out the way we were coming in right there on that snowfield? I have to tell you that I was a little annoyed. I mean, this is supposed to be such an inaccessible, difficult spot to reach. I had expected blissful solitude. But there they were, shouting and laughing at each other's jokes as they happily passed by. Mica and I said a polite 'hello' and continued on our way up to the actual pass.

High Pass and the Ten Peak group

The view from the top was astonishing! Snow patches and scrubby hillocks dropped away to a shallow lakelet fed directly by a number of frigid, snow-fed streams. The Ten Peak group rose commandingly across the Napeequa River valley, dominating the skyline. Loose rock was everywhere in the lake basin. It was a true avalanche war zone. We headed down pumice slopes, fixing our eyes on a heather bench situated right near the basin's lip, overlooking the steep route down to the Napeequa Valley.

A well-defined trail led down to the lake, which was larger than I had originally thought. The route down to the heather bench was also longer than I'd anticipated and I was getting tired.

Finally, we reached the heather and then I saw it ... a little blue tent situated right in the middle of the one defined campsite. It was bad enough meeting the happy hikers up on the snow field, but now I had been aced out of my campsite. Son-of-a-Bee!

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