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At some point during the night, it rained. I don't know what time it
was, but I heard a few drops on the tent. And then more. And then it
started coming down. I could see the lightning flashes and hear the
thunder. But it didn't last too long, and the area didn't seem too
damp by the morning. Of course the music started across the lake
again around 7am.
Morning cloud reflections in Buck Island Lake
Morning reflections in Buck Island Lake
It was already starting to get hot in the tent anyway, so we got out
and made breakfast. The mosquitoes were still there to greet us,
as well. At least we could enjoy some nice reflections in the
lake.
Buck Island Lake
Clouds reflected in Buck Island Lake
We started the day's hike around 9:15am. After about 35 minutes of
gentle climbing, we reached Rockbound Lake. There were many more
backpackers camping here than at Buck Island Lake. If I had to do
it again, I would have chosen to camp here as well, if only to get
away from the blaring music from the OHV campers.
Last look at Buck Island Lake
Rockbound Lake
As we continued along on our hike, we were passed by a few day hikers.
They were apparently using Rockbound Lake as a base camp, and were
doing a day hike before probably hiking out the next day. I would
venture to guess that most people backpacking out of Loon Lake probably
do an out-and-back rather than a loop hike like we did. It's about 6
miles one way to Buck Island Lake, and about 7 miles to Rockbound Lake,
so it's a reasonable distance for most people.
We climbed a bit more before descending down to Rubicon Reservoir,
the last lake we'd see for a while. The trail comes closest to the
reservoir near the far end, and we stopped there for a break.
It was already turning into a very warm day, and we were thankful
for some shade and rest. It also didn't appear we'd get the clouds
we did yesterday, so we'd have to deal with higher temperatures.
Rubicon Reservoir
Rubicon Reservoir
Rubicon Reservoir
Rubicon Reservoir
Clouds reflected in Rubicon Reservoir
Damselflies in Rubicon Reservoir
Two damselflies
Rubicon Reservoir
After our break we continued along the trail as it mostly follows
the Rubicon River. We left behind some of the day hikers as we
followed the trail across the river. It was fairly easily
rock-hopped, though I imagine it could be more difficult after
a wet winter.
River crossing
We passed a pond (the GPS showed this as a stream crossing, but
again, dry winter...). Then we came to what I think was the
Rubicon River again, coming from the opposite direction. We
stopped here to filter some water. Even though we had full
Camelbaks to start the day, the heat had drained us and our
water supply, so it was nice to get more and drink some Nuun.
Rubicon River
After the break, we crossed the river (again, just a rock hop).
We next came to an intersection at Camper Flat. My sons were
a bit ahead of us and somehow missed the sign (it was just a
single post in the middle of a marshy area) and I had to radio
ahead to tell them to come back.
Then we turned right and headed up the trail to 4-Qs Lakes.
The start of the trail did not instill confidence, as it was a
very narrow trail and did not look well-maintained. It would
get worse from there. It was a steep uphill with almost no
switchbacks and was overgrown in many places. Based on the
condition of the trail, I hardly expected to find anyone else
on this section of trail, but I was wrong. We ran into
several people hiking in the opposite direction, even some
day hikers (probably base camping at Rockbound Lake or
Rubicon Reservoir).
We passed a pond but then soon came to 4-Qs Lakes themselves.
We were exhausted by this time, done in by the heat and the
steepness and the trail conditions. But we found a nice spot
overlooking the first of the lakes and started to set up
camp. We weren't the only ones there, as we saw another
set of campers across the lake to the southwest of us.
Despite our exhaustion, it was a pretty place to camp, much
nicer than Buck Island Lake the night before. And we still
had plenty of daylight to enjoy it. We also enjoyed the
reflections in the lake before sunset.
4-Qs Lake
4-Qs Lake
Campsite at 4-Qs Lakes
Reflections in 4-Qs Lake
Reflections in 4-Qs Lake
Reflections in 4-Qs Lake
After sunset I noticed a bright object near the horizon,
brighter than any star. I'm pretty sure it was Venus. It
slowly sank below the horizon as I scrambled to take a picture
with it reflecting in 4-Qs Lakes below.
Venus reflected in 4-Qs Lake
Venus
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