Golden Lake

It was spring, and we wanted to go for a hike with Grampa. Grampa's favorite hike is to Golden Lake, so we had a destination. We had to bust some snow on the road in, but it wasn't too bad.

As we started off across the flats near the parking lot, the trilliums were out.

The flats only extend a few hundred yards, then it's a stiff climb. You could say the "trail" follows a "creek," and it's only about a mile, but some might find that description slightly misleading.

As you climb up the canyon out of Lake Fork Creek, the views expand. There is lots of granite, including Slick Rock about a mile to the south.

Golden sits fairly high, so even in June it is usually frozen over. Richard brought and used his crampons. Fortunately the overcast skies had kept the snow from freezing too hard, so John kicked steps for himself and Jasmine.

Jasmine loves any hike with glissading, although getting her to dress for it is another matter. She thought that wearing the hat she won in the Statesman's contest last year was sufficient.

The contest asked you to identify a picture; Jasmine knew it was El Capitan in the Sawtooths because she had backpacked there the previous weekend with her dad.