A Photo Trip ReportIt is possible that this was the best hiking day of my life. If my experience at the Kearsarge Pinnacles the year before had opened my eyes to and awoke an appetite for untrodden ways and solitary discoveries, this day fed and enlarged my pull to them, and a hike two days later would cement it and make the urge forever a part of me.
Starting out just before dawn, I hiked from camp to the highest of the Jerome Rock Lakes where, needing more, I chose to climb the cirque’s wall for a more sweeping view. From my perch on the south (far) end of the ridge above the lake basin, I beheld the entire ridgeline and knew that by ascending, traversing, and ultimately descending it, I could make a grand loop back to camp. And so I did--- standing atop the highest point, savoring views only climbers enjoy, saying “Good morning” to yellow, purple, and white tundra flowers (so tiny), and knowing for sure that everything really was forever changed.
Descending, I stopped at a small tarn in the basin below me. No trail leads to it, and one only knows of it by noticing its inconspicuous presence on a topo map or by spotting it from the ridge above. I can’t remember how it was that I first noticed it, but I know that seeing it from above made me want to reach it. The water was cold, clear, and still, and I felt as though I had found a little secret. I spent maybe half an hour there, just enjoying the sun and the warming morning air. It had been cold and windy on the ridge.
In the afternoon of this glorious day, I hiked south to Lake Solitude (and had its namesake) and up to a ridgeline crossed by the trail. Atop the ridge, I forsook the trail for the tundra slopes above. Had I not done so, I would have missed more lovely tundra flowers, Lone Mountain, and heartbreakingly beautiful views of the Spanish Lakes basin. What a day!
Jerome Rock Peak
Afternoon Ramble above Lake Solitude
Images
|
