Glacier Lake Trip Report

Our troop took a trip Glacier Lake on 6/21-6/22. Glacier Lake is located in the Bowman Lake area, north of I-80 and near Emigrant Gap and the intersection with Highway 20. After a drive on a bumpy gravel road, we pulled into the parking lot at Carr Lake. From there, the hike to Glacier Lake was about 5 miles. The hike itself was not bad in terms of terrain. It was a little steep as we approached out destination, but nothing really difficult. The problem was the mosquitoes! In many places that we crossed, it was swampy due to residual snowmelt and was teeming with mosquitoes. To add to the problem, we had to stop several times so the boys could check where we were on the map so that they would know where we were going.
When we reached Glacier Lake, it was gorgeous. It lies just north of the Black Buttes, which reach up past 8000 feet. As we approached the lake, we passed some smaller ponds which were still partially frozen. The surprising thing was just how much snow was still around the lake. The south side of the lake was completely covered with snow. As we walked around to the north end of the lake, the slope was also covered. Still, there was a large, open, snow-free area for camping. We set up our sleeping bags there with no tents. The clouds looked ominous for a little while, but then vanished. The other weather factors were not so nice though. It was quite chilly (at least to me), as the daytime high didn't pass 60, and it cooled off somewhat at night. What was worse though was that we were blasted with wind all night, so we did not get much sleep.

We woke up Monday morning for the hike out, and it was sunny and pleasant. The sky was clear, and the temperature was significantly higher. While we still had to deal with the mosquitoes, we made it out in pretty good time. I was sore afterward, but that is to be expected. My favorite part was trying out my newly acquired camera, as I took 200 pictures over the two day period. Next up is another backpacking trip, but it should be much easier, as we are bringing some first time backpackers.