We kept following the drainage down, it was ultimately slow going most of the way through this section because a lot of dead fall. We finally stumbled onto a meadow/marsh where the water spread out and formed a nice wetland. It was squishy and full of mosquitoes but the progress was much quicker.
We were steadily gaining elevation again and made it out of the mosquitoes.
and more flowers...
On top of the hill we circled Braxson Lake. Finding alpine lakes would become a reoccurring theme for the remainder of the trip. I didn't complain.
Like so many others places on this trip, I would have really liked to spend more time here.
We now had pretty much a straight shot downhill following the runoff from Braxson to Baron Lakes and marked trail.
When we reached Baron Lake, we ran into a couple of hikers... it was kind of bittersweet. We were out of the stretch that people rarely see.
Lower Baron Lake, good place for lunch.
People were fishing here, and I had been anxious to get some fly fishing in, but we decided to push further. I could fish at the camp. We knew there would be no shortage of lakes from here out.
We had to climb up and over the Baron Divide which gave us a great look at Upper and Lower Baron Lake. (You can still see the smoke in the air... foreshadowing)
Descending down the other side of Baron Divide swung us by a couple of small unnamed lakes. Progress was exponentially faster now that we were on trail. We could really cover some miles.
Yup, I can find frogs anywhere. Colombian spotted frogs are one of my favorites, probably because they live in places like this.
A couple miles later we arrived at Alpine Lake. It was only mid afternoon, but we went ahead and set up camp on the bank. Decided we deserved an early night and a cold bath in the lake after the first couple days.
I finally did some fishing but, this lake was full of brook trout about 6 inches long. They were aggressive little guys but nothing spectacular. We got some nice alpenglow on the overlooking peaks that evening.
That night the winds shifted on us. I first noticed it because instead of cooling off after dark it stayed relatively mild. Overnight, the shifting winds brought the smoke right on top of us. The effect at sunrise was pretty cool.
We packed up and started to the east to hit the next ridge and drop into the Redfish Creek drainage. We couldn't see the opposite side of the ridge or the bottom the smoke was so bad. We were soaking our handkerchiefs in water then banditoing our faces to try and help our breathing while we hiked.
Crossing Red Fish Creek, super cold!
The smoke stayed with us for most of the next two days. I was pretty disappointed because this was some of the prettier sections of trail and I couldn't capture it with my camera.
We followed the creek for a while before breaking off and heading back uphill towards Cramer Lakes.
This momma grouse was keeping an eye on her chick.
Cramer Lakes were absolutely spectacular. There was a waterfall separating the upper and lower lakes just stunning. But, you have to take my word for it because the smoke blocked anything from being photographed. It was a good place for lunch before we had to climb the Cramer Divide. The Cramer Divide wasn't particularly steep, but it was definitely a long climb. And somewhere on that trail we entered a Tolkien novel.
This was a section of trail most people seemed to avoid, we didn't see anyone else or other boot prints for miles.
After clearing the divide we dropped elevation again, down to Hidden Lake where we would set up camp.
Pikas! Closely related to rabbits and probably the cutest animal on the planet. We had been hearing them scream all trip as a warning to other Pikas that we were near by, but finally got close enough to a couple as the trail crossed through this rocky slope.
holy crap they are cute
Not a bad campsite
I fished here too but with the same success of lots of 5-6 inch brook trout.
The next morning we continued south and stopped at Virginia and Edna Lakes.
It was around ten clock and finally I decided I was going to take this fishing thing seriously. After a couple hours Edna Lake rewarded me.
Content with my fish we moved on. Eventually we climbed up Sand Mountain Pass and had to make a decision.
We could keep going south and swing by Toxaway Lake then hump it back to the car from there, or head north towards Imogene Lake and casually work our way out. We voted to enjoy the last part of the trip and just stroll towards Imogene and the car.
I was pretty happy with the decision, the trail to Imogene was gorgeous. The rain did threaten so we hurried to get to the lake and set up camp before we got too soaked.
Arrived at Imogene Lake, got the tent up and bear bag hung just as the rain started.
It let up briefly so that we could make dinner and I could do a little fly fishing.
Thank you Imogene!
After dark though, it pretty much drizzled all night. So, we got a good nights sleep then prepared for the show in the morning.
The early morning light, with the moisture from last night and light smoke in the air was just awesome.
After taking in our fill, we packed up and headed north. We walked the perimeter of Hell Roaring Lake, probably the biggest lake we had seen since Red Fish.
Initially I had planned to stop at a creek crossing and camp one last time before heading out. But we felt good and managed to make it all the way out and catch the last ferry across Red Fish Lake and ultimately back to the car.
It was pretty much all I could realistically ask for in a trip. Scenic and challenging in places but, definitely left me wanting to explore the rest of the range. I'll probably be back...
