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We left camp at 10am, then retraced our steps back toward Purple Lake. This meant
going back to the lower Ram Lake, crossing over the snowfield, then continuing down
the trail next to the outlet stream.
Upper Ram Lake
Upper Ram Lake
Middle and Lower Ram Lake
Lower Ram Lake
As we descended, we remembered where we had rejoined the main trail from our creek
crossing, and veered left off the trail to avoid the narrow gorge. We made
the easy rock hop across the creek, then tried our best to continue to avoid
the narrow gorge, veering more to the left. At some point we picked up
another trail and followed it as it descended down toward the creek.
After a steep descent, we rejoined the trail we had been on two days ago. Where
it intersected, I could see that it was subtle that the trail forked there.
We had continued straight and eventually ended up at the gorge, whereas a right
turn would have made it a lot easier. But we had made it in the end.
Now back on familiar territory, the trail descended right next to the creek to
the first creek crossing. We put on our water shoes and crossed easily, then continued
toward Purple Lake. Again we had to contend with the muddy trail and the downed
trees. When we reached the horse camp, the horses weren't there, but there were several
people and some big tents, shades, and stoves, along with the metal cases that the
packers had carried in.
Purple Creek
Easy Purple Creek stream crossing
Purple Creek Stream crossing
Purple Creek
After a brief break at Purple Lake, we turned right and started the 500 foot climb on
the JMT. As the trail leveled off, we ran into a lot of hikers on the JMT, mostly
heading southbound. We could still see the fire to the north, though there wasn't
as much smoke in the valley as there had been two days ago.
After a brief descent, we turned right toward Duck Lake and
away from the JMT, though the hiker traffic continued for a while.
We took a break at the Duck Lake outlet stream at 3pm, enjoying some peace and quiet
for once, as most of the backpackers had already passed for the day. Then we started
the climb up along the northwestern shore of the lake. At some point, about halfway
along the shore I saw a group of backpackers descend a gully from the left. I don't
know where exactly they were coming from. Perhaps they'd gone cross-country from Deer
Lakes. I never did see the trail to Deer Lakes that's on my map.
Duck Lake
Duck Lake
Duck Lake
Duck Lake
We arrived at the Pika Lake trail intersection at 4pm, then turned right to descend
toward Pika Lake. We saw 3 tents in the area facing Duck Lake, but we would see more
on the Pika Lake side. We followed the trail as it curved around and then paralleled
the Pika Lake outlet stream. Soon enough we were at Pika Lake itself. Despite
being much smaller than Duck Lake, it's arguably much prettier. It's more intimate,
dramatically backed by steep granite peaks. The outlet stream leads downhill to
Duck Lake. There's dense forest on the northern shore, and there were people fishing
on that side of the lake when we arrived.
Pika Lake
Pika Lake
Pika Lake
We put down our packs and started to look for a suitable campsite. We couldn't find
anything great on the forested side. There were some large sites, but set back from the
lake a fair distance. We crossed the outlet stream and scrambled up a small hill
overlooking the lake and found a really nice spot up there. There was tree cover,
it was big enough for our tent, and we had awesome views from our kitchen on the Pika
Lake side. We could also turn around and look at Duck Lake, as well. There were
a few campers below us to the west facing Duck Lake, but I preferred our higher perch.
Mountains reflected in Pika Lake
Mountains reflected in Pika Lake
Rocks at Pika Lake
After setting up camp, I walked down to the use trail that follows the western shore
of Pika Lake. It's a beautiful little walk, providing great views of the lake and
the mountains behind it. As a photographer, it was kind of like hitting the jackpot,
as the afternoon sun led to beautiful mountain reflections in the water. There's
also a series of rocks in the water which lend to the scene. Near the end of the
trail there's a small camp with stone chairs. It would have been nice, except for
the fact that the site is slightly slanted. There's a small stream after this,
easily rock-hopped, for some more views. Then I returned to camp. I couldn't resist
coming back near sunset, however, for even more pictures.
Mountains reflected in Pika Lake
Pika Lake
Pika Lake from our kitchen
Pika Lake sunset
Our Pika Lake kitchen
Sunset reflections in Pika Lake
Sunset reflections in Pika Lake
Sunset reflections in Pika Lake
Sunset reflections in Pika Lake
Sunset reflections in Pika Lake
Sunset reflections in Pika Lake
Sunset reflections in Pika Lake
View from our kitchen
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