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It was noticeably colder in the morning, and we could hear light raindrops
hitting the tent. That combination led to us staying in our tent for a while,
and we got a late start.
I had originally hoped to hike up to the top of Kaiser Peak on this trip, but
the rest of the family wasn't interested. So I had hikes planned for every day
except one. Since this looked to be a crummy weather day, I decided to save
the other two hikes for later (when the weather would probably be nicer). So
I scoured the trail map and did a little web surfing (surprisingly, I got cell
phone reception in the campground), eventually deciding on Corbett Lake.
We finally left camp a little before 11am. It was cloudy, but hadn't really
rained much -- just a few sprinkles. The forecast called for a chance of rain
until around noon, and then cloudy the rest of the day. So I was hopeful we'd
be ok.
We started driving up Kaiser Pass Road. I didn't know what I was in store for.
After a nice wide two-lane road, it became a one lane road. It was still paved,
sort of (with lots of rough road and potholes). There are lots of blind corners
and spectacular views -- and mind-numbing drop-offs to the left with no guard
rail. But mostly what concerned me was oncoming traffic.
Most drivers were courteous and we passed each other easily. In fact there wasn't
a lot of traffic, since this was a late Monday morning. Still, we had one
time when an oncoming car stopped about 30 feet in front of us, then backed up
and stopped, inviting us to go ahead and pass on the left, right next to the steep
drop-off. Later, a guy towing a boat came barreling downhill way too fast, leaving us
barely enough time to get out of the way. But those were the only two incidents.
Mostly, I kept wondering how long it was going to take. Part of the problem is that my
map wasn't quite accurate about what was paved and what wasn't, and it wasn't clear
to me that the right turn I was supposed to make was actually a "bear right" instead
of a "turn right". So I was beginning to think we were way off and I was thinking of
turning around, but then we passed Portal Forebay (a lake), which told me that we were nearly
to the trailhead.
We finally made it to the trailhead and hiked to Corbett Lake.
After the hike, we drove back along Kaiser Pass Road. This time I felt a little
better since I'd seen the road already. There was probably even less traffic on
the way back. Still, the drop-offs remained, and as we approached Kaiser Pass
the road became slick from earlier rain. Soon it was a heavy mist and then
actual, undeniable rain. In fact it looked liked it had been raining on the
Huntington Lake side of the pass most of the afternoon. We made our way down
to the mini-mart for some snacks, then returned to camp. We were happy to get a
fire started despite the occasional raindrops. Then it was more s'mores before bed.
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