A hike to trophy-fishing Lake Rock Lake gets two peaks.
- July 5, 2015
- Team: Julie
- Peaks:
- Lake Rock, 8001'
- Lake Rock Lake Peak, 8074'
- RT: Class 3, 5.0 miles, 2285' gain, 5:15 hours car-to-car
Note: click images to see a larger version in a new window
After about 10 days of scorching heat, it was finally supposed to cool off a bit. So we were leisurely, finally rolling out at about 9am for the Alpine Pantry: breakfast burritos and lattes for the drive up Warren Wagon Road. We followed the directions in Marchant's book for Lake Rock Lake. The trail is old-style McCall, because it's outside the burn; it is forested and shady. It was also a little overgrown, with a fair amount of deadfall over it. But by Payette National Forest standards, not bad at all. |
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It's about 1.5 mile and 1100' to the lake. And there's Lake Rock behind Lake Rock Lake.
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Or, if you prefer, Lake Rock Lake Rock. |
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We scrambled up the hillside to gain the north ridge. As we got closer, we could see the rock peeking between the trees. My father had told me there was a chimney on the backside. I sure hope so! |
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We worked the ridge, trying to keep a breeze going to cut down on the bugs. |
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| Well, I wouldn't call it a chimney, but there was a workable route. Less than Class 4, too! |  |
| Julie liked it. |  |
The summit is really just a jumble of big blocks. The jumble allows you to see through in spots, with the result of dropping something perhaps a 200' fall to the ground. We sat on the two highest blocks, within arms reach of each other. |
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Although we were admiring the view in all directions, I was focused on our second goal for the day, Lake Rock Lake Peak (I love those noun strings). |
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So we scampered back down the ridge, then started up the broad shoulder of Peak 8074. Julie (who is in the picture) claimed it was the easiest bushwack ever. |
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| The rocks on this summit weren't nearly as fun. Plus, we had a dinner invite to attend. So without much rest, we were on our way down, shortcutting to the end of the lake. |  |
| The shortcut was steep but doable. |  |
Our descent dropped off the right-hand ridge in the picture. Then connected back to our trail to close the loop. And we made it to dinner with, ummm, 2 minutes to spare. |
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Map. |
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