Lake Angeline Hike

Yesterday, Jordan, our friend Troy and I went on a hike to Lake Angeline.  The lake is nestled at the base of the mountains in the photo above, between the peaks in the middle and right side of the photo above.

The lake is located about 5.5 miles from the parking area (which is a few miles from the highway on a fairly rocky dirt road).  The scenery along the way consists of a rough trail through the woods, alpine meadows and then rocky fields above the treeline.

The vistas near the lake are expansive, with views of the foothills and rolling sagebrush prairie beyond.

 

The lake is fed from rain and snow, and it's waters are crystal clear.  Situated around 10,450 feet, much of the water was still coated with a layer of ice in mid-June.  It was partially the memory of this aqua blue water that made Jordan want to return to this beautiful spot and share with me.  He first discovered Lake Angeline when Grampa Frank took him camping there when he was a boy.

For perspective, that's Jordan fishing in the photo above.  The mountains here are steep!

It was super windy up high, which must be fairly routine as many of the local trees grow out, rather than up.

On our hikes, it's sometimes hard to shake that "let's just see what's over the next mountain top" feeling.  Yesterday was no exception, and we succumbed to a short detour to climb a fairly steep nearby hill. We were rewarded with a view of Lower Frozen Lake and the impressive cliffs of a nearby mountain.  We could also glimpse at least 5 of the 7 Brothers Lakes in the distance (photo not shown).

Overall, we trekked almost 12.5 miles and gained just under 2,700 feet of elevation.  On our way back to the highway, we were bemoaning the fact that we hadn't seen any wildlife throughout the day (although we saw plenty of signs of moose, elk and coyotes).  To our delight, within seconds we spotted several snowshoe hares in their brown summer coats. 

It was a great day!