30 years ago Greg Poyer hiked to Crater Lake and took a picture of Lone Eagle Peak. For many years since then, he has dreamt of repeating that trip and recreating that picture.
This is a map of our route.
After we passed Long Lake it became clear that autumn is beginning in the Rockies. The meadows are beginning to turn orange and red.
The mountains surrounding Lake Isabelle are very rugged. Pawnee Pass is behind the valley directly above Greg.
The trail to the left leads to Lake Isabelle, to the right Pawnee Pass.
This hill has half a dozen switchbacks. The summit of the hill is only a prelude to the climb to the pass.
Just starting to climb.
Jagged ridges everywhere I look.
The switchbacks on this hill were not so bad on the climb up, but on the way down they were a bit spooky. There were times that I was afraid that my tired feet would slip and send me tumbling down the rocks.
Looking back at Long Lake and Lake Isabelle from the base of the hill.
This was a comfortable spot on the trail to relax before starting the first steep climb. Good grief... what was I thinking carrying such a big pack?
More rugged ridges. I just couldn't get enough of 'em.
We made the top of the hill and took a photo break above Lake Isabelle.
The top of the hill opens to a rock strewn meadow. This gave a nice silhouette of Navajo Peak and glacier.
Looking back toward Denver.
Now we have some altitude above the hill. The trail is just visible circling the top.
One of the most disappointing things about hiking up a long, steep trail is: Climbing to what looked like the top and discovering that you are nowhere near the top. The pass is still a long way off.
Finally at the top of the pass. Looking back toward Denver.
Looking ahead toward Lake Granby.
After climbing from the Lake Isabelle side, the Pawnee Lake side was a shock. It is MUCH more rugged. Looking down from the top was almost too exciting. Lake Granby is visible from here.
We decided that since we had come this far, we weren't going to turn back now. So we started the long, steep descent to Pawnee Lake.
And I thought things were rugged on the other side. Wow.
The trail switched back over and over. Sometimes it disappeared entirely and we had to scramble over and around rocks on the steep slope all while carrying heavy packs.
Yikes! Do we really want to go on?
Looking back up after descending only a few hundred feet from the top of pass.
More amazing rocks.
Pawnee Lake. We still have a LONG way to go.
Looking back after 1,000 feet or so.
We made it to the bottom, and hiked around Pawnee Lake. This mountain is between us and our objective of Lone Eagle Peak.
Kelly and Greg sit and enjoy the view of Lone Eagle Peak. We still have a way to go to reach Crater Lake where we plan to spend the night.
Greg, Kelly and I each brought tents. We had to squeeze to get them all into the first camp site we found.
We are on the way back Sunday. More fantastic rocks. I was so tired that I didn't take many pictures. My pack must have gained 20 lbs somehow. But we survived and have the pictures to prove it.
It turns out that we sometimes forget how hard it was to create those old memories. I don't think we will repeat this trip for a long time. Or at least until we have done a lot of forgetting.