We drove to the trailhead, which is at the end of a road that winds up Lamoille canyon. There were probably a dozen cars at the parking lot—lots of day hikers and drive-and-look visitors. We put on the packs (grunt!) and started up the trail. The trail to Lamoille lake is about 2 miles of mild climbing with some switchbacks. Not too painful. At the end of the two miles we passed the small "dollar lakes" and then immediately came upon Lamoille lake. We stopped for lunch, rested and watched two teenage boys skinnydip at the far end of the lake. (No, we didn't get the binoculars out. We're not perverts).

From Lamoille Lake we hiked over Liberty Pass, elevation 10,500'. During lunch the wind came up and it was blowing pretty briskly over the pass. The wind, it turns out, blew for two days. The pass is pretty rocky and barren -- feels like you're climbing to the top of Everest. Steep with lots of switchbacks. Frank took it especially slow, could really feel the altitude. Well it was the first day after all, with about 50 pounds of extra weight. (Not to mention the packs).

From Liberty Pass it's a quick descent to Liberty Lake, with amazing views across the canyon to Castle Lake. We dropped down to Liberty Lake and set up our first camp. Teatime is strictly observed. At 4:00 we stop for coffee and tea and biscuits. Frank also decided to take a little dip in the icy lake to wash off the sweat and dirt of our grueling three mile trek. Good thing these pictures don't have sound accompaniment—the screaming was echoing off the canyon walls. While were setting up camp a guy came through, a fisherman who'd day-hiked in. He had a string of sardine- to medium-sized trout the looked neither worth it nor legal.

We ate dinner (freeze dried Turkey Tetrazini, which Brian accidentally turned into a sort of soup in a fit of overzealous rehydration, and for dessert, freeze dried white chocolate mousse with bits of raspberries). The campsite was clearly well-used with several large fire rings, and interesting garbage expertly packaged in plastic bags hidden under some of the rocks.

The wind continued to blow. The stars were good. We spotted the Andromeda Galaxy, which on dark clear nights is just barely visible to the naked eye as a large, dim fuzzy patch. There were several shooting stars and a few satellite too, including one suspected Iridium flare far to the north.

We had a leisurely breakfast of instant oatmeal & Tang, and decided to head to Castle Lake by contouring around the cirque at the head of the canyon rather than descending to Favre Lake and then climbing back up. The contour looked like a simple stroll, but it was actually pretty strenuous as we had to lose about 500' in elevation, and the slopes of the cirque were very steep and in some places nothing but rockfall. So, it was harder than it looked, but pretty beautiful. We stopped at the head of the canyon to look over the other side (in howling wind). In the picture at right, you can see the steep parts directly behind Frank. It took a couple of hours to get over to Castle Lake.

At Castle Lake, wind was the issue. We hiked all over the area looking for a sheltered place. The wind was coming from the west, blowing up-canyon, and it took quite a while to find a bump of land that had a bit of shelter in the lee. We had time for more skinnydipping and a rest in the warm sun before setting up camp.

Dinner was chicken (tinned) in a tomato-porcini mushroom sauce over couscous.

We kept our eye on the weather to the west. It was looking threatening as sunset approached; it was clear that a front was coming through, and we'd read before we left that weather was expected in Salt Lake City on Wednesday. It got windier and colder and cloudier by the minute. We set up a tarp as a makeshift tent, as it looked like it might rain or snow, and we wanted some shelter from the wind as well. No stars tonight.

Teatime at Castle Lake

So, we hiked down, an in the space of just an hour, the sky to the west cleared; it seemed that the worst of the front had gone by. It was really cold, in the 40's, but the blue sky was encouraging so we decided to stay.

We headed toward North Furlong Lake, over another pass that required us to travel west, up and over, then west again. While climbing the pass we noticed fresh hoofprints in the scattering of snow and maybe pawprints? We finally saw the silhouette of the rider and dog when they crested the pass about 1/2 mile ahead of us. That's the only time in the four days in the back country that we saw anyone.

Of course, this was subject of much fantasizing for the rest of the day. We eventually determined that he was an ex-marine, hunky blonde, about 6'2 with a buzz-cut and bubble butt and a tight green ranger's uniform. (Ok, so now he's a ranger). And very lonely.

As we descended the pass, we heard the horse whinny behind us. We looked back and it was tied to a tree. No sign of the marine/ranger. If we'd known he was prowling around up there we wouldn't have been in such a hurry to climb down...

Anyway. We could see where the Ruby Ridge trail continued over the next pass to the south. That pass was a beautiful, broad grassy saddle (Brian had fantasies about running around atop it naked singing "The Hills are Alive," but restrained himself).We headed down and west to North Furlong Lake, which is at the base of the granite ridge in the picture to the right. It's in a depression (which is probably psychologically as well as physically true, as it's used as a cow wallow in the summer). The wind continued all day.

There were several well-used campsites around northwest end of the lake, including one that appeared to be a permanent camp used by cowboys in the summer; there were coolers and other camp gear covered by a tarp, and some enameled camp pots. There were some wooden planks nailed to trees to serve as benches and shelves, so with that plus the fact that it seemed less windy there, that's where we made our camp.

This is where Brian's water filter decided to clog up, and it now took what seemed like 15 minutes to filter a liter of water. But, around sunset the wind finally calmed down

Behind the camp was a beautiful hanging valley, with steep and rocky walls. It was a bit too much of a climb to use as a camp, but it was pretty.There were also a couple of small streams coming out of it which made getting water more convenient.

Dinner that night was the Beef Enchiladas. We ate a full double-serving package each, about 20% more than one should eat. They were tasty, filling, and maybe leaden is the right word. This was followed by the instant chocolate mousse which put dinner undeniably over the top. Brian liked the mousse, Frank hated it.

Tonight it was perfectly clear and calm and with the air mass from the cold front, absolutely freezing. Temperatures dropped into the mid 20's overnight.

Our Humble Abode in the Snow

Clearing Weather over Favre Lake

Looking toward North Furlong Lake

In the morning, Frank took advantage of the cowboys' camp pots to boil up a bunch of water over the fire and took a shower using a Sierra-Club-cup as a dipper, once it warmed up a bit, to 28º.

Then we packed up and headed back up the canyon to head home. The streams running down the canyon had frozen over during the night. but the day turned out warmer and warmer as it went along; the cold air mass behind the front must have passed by.

We stopped for lunch on the way down the pass between ___ and Kleckner canyon, on some nice rocks just off the trail. And after lunch on the way up Kleckner canyon we passed by a bog with several small, round, clear ponds stairstepping down the canyon. They looked like Munchkin swimming pools. They looked so inviting Brian wanted to go for a swim but the water turned out to be icy and the pond bottoms soft and muddy, so he gave it a miss.

We passed by Favre Lake, and then headed back up to Liberty Lake. This was a much longer hike than it seemed like it should have been. It couldn't have been more than a half mile as the crow flies, but the trail wound far to the west and back again, with switchbacks, stretching the hike to a couple of miles. Eventually, though, we made Liberty Lake and went back to our first campsite. This time we didn't see anyone at the lake. Frank took some time to read, and we saw small bats flying over the lake in the twilight.

Teatime again

Dinner was creamed tuna on bulgur wheat. You have to have spent a few days on the trail to understand how delicious something like that can seem. (And don't tell Mark and Barbara, but Brian's bechamel was a little bit lumpy)

The last night was warm and clear, didn't even freeze. We watched Andromeda take all night to circle the North Star.

Icy Stream in the Morning

Favre Lake from the West

Reading in the Shady Spot

We drove back to Lamoille and had lunch at the bar, then drove back to Elko, exhausted. The hotel was chosen on the basis of having a spa. And Frank picked up a bathing suit for $4 at Penny's. I'll tell you, a hot shower is a religious experience after a week of backpacking.

As we were checking in, a bus pulled in and unloaded a high school football team in town for the Silver Springs homecoming game. Now, one might expect from the stereotypes that this should be a gay man's dream come true, and maybe 25 years ago, when we were their age, it would have been, but all we could think was "Oh no... they'd damned well better be quiet tonight." And they were. There was some cavorting in the hallways, but we spent some time in the spa with a couple of them who were as loquacious as you'd expect teenage boys to be, i.e. sullen and silent.

We spent some time on the Internet trying to find the locus of gay life in Elko, which, it turns out, is located in Reno 300 miles to the west. We asked the people in the gay.com chat room what there might be in Elko. A couple of people had actually been to Elko and one said, "Elko? That's 40 miles east of bumfuck."

OK, nothing there. Since we weren't interested in drinking, gambling or smoking, the three main sources of entertainment open to us, we went out for another Basque dinner and went to bed early.