Evelyn Lake to Boothe Lake
MVP
Sierra Designs Nitro 25—I bought this sleeping quilt as it seemed to be the best bang for the buck with a great recommendation from Bound For Nowhere. Well, I can say now that it’s an awesome quilt that totally conquered 40 degree temps and is ready for more!
Camp Review:
Boothe Lake was a beautiful lake. One of the prettiest lakes of 2021 for me.
Even though it was very pretty, there were less spots to camp compared to Evelyn Lake. Many of the existing sites were closer than 100ft to the lake, which is against rules.
Boothe Lake sits in a valley, and maybe as a result of that, there was much more wind in the evening. So much so that I moved my tent from a prettier, but windier site to a wind-protected site with no views of the lake.
It was the first times in my life that I camped at a place with no one I could see or hear. I thought I might have heard human voices around 9pm, but I believe it was hikers passing by on the trail a few hundred feet above the lake. I believe that because when I woke up, there was no one else at the lake.
What I Learned:
Drinking hot milk tea right after getting up totally set me up for success. The warmth plus the calories totally got me ready for hiking.
I was worried a bit about how tired my legs would be given the 11 miles I hiked the day before. My legs were a little heavy for the first mile, but it felt good after that.
I wanted to leave most of my gear at Vogelsang Camp, but the bear box was a little small, so I ended up only shedding about 10 pounds.
The hike up to Vogelsang Pass was not easy. I actually lost my way on the trail, so I ended up walking a bit more than I needed to.
The path from Vogelsang Pass Trail to Vogelsang Peak was really difficult. This was even after had left the backpack on a boulder before hiking up the scree. It’s not marked, there are a ton of boulders, and there’s a 1/2 mile of scree that had me slipping (and emptying my shoes of rocks). The final quarter mile of ascent was actually rather pleasant with lots of bushes that was laid out like a maze. The last 10 yards was a straight up climb up some rocks, though I found out once I got to the top that there was an easier way that didn’t require two free hands to climb.
Back at Vogelsang camp, I called out for Jessie, as the two guys said that his shoe fell apart and that he needed duct tape to fix it, but no one replied to my yells and I didn’t see anyone.
I finally pooped in a cat hole! Digging the ground was harder than I thought since the ground was so dry, but everything else went smoother than I thought it would.
Boothe Lake is one of the prettiest lakes that I’ve seen this year. If it were warmer, I would have jumped in without hesitation. The water is so clean, and I even spied a few large fish!
I really need to measure the rice when I make the dehydrated curry meal. I was so full and I still had 1/2 the bag to finish. I ended up wasting it.
Fears Faced:
Sleeping in freezing temps—I wasn’t sure my sleep system was up to the task, but I worried for naught. With only the base layer on, I was so warm in my bag that I was sweating!
Heights—When I summited Vogelsang Peak, I didn’t stay long, as the possibility of falling just scared me. The east and west sides of the peak have a steep 1000+ ft drop off, so I didn’t even get close to the edge. I took a few photos, then climbed down and didn’t look for a register.
Theft—I’m too wary of leaving things unguarded, but I did leave ~10lbs worth of gear in a bear box next to Vogelsang Camp. Everything was untouched, when I returned 3+ hrs later.
Media Consumed:
The Glass Castle—finished! 48 Laws of Power.
People Met:
Three guys near Vogelsang Peak. A few girls at Vogelsang Camp.
7.1 miles, 5 hrs 31 mins, 1590 ft of ascent
What Happened?
After 10 hrs of sleep, I woke up feeling great! I was worried about not being warm enough throughout the night, but I actually had to take all the layers off (besides the base layer) so that I wouldn’t sweat!
When I opened the tent door, I found that the smoke had almost totally dissipated during the night, and it was a welcome sight to see. I got to see the mountains around me clearly, and I got pretty excited about the day I was about to have.
I packed up everything and started hiking towards Vogelsang. This morning hike was beautiful, with the warm light from the sun creating a golden field along the hike. The first point of interest was Fletcher Lake, which was pretty, but I didn’t have a wide enough lens to take the picture I wanted to take.
I found the camp a bit like a ghost town, with the cabins deconstructed as the camp was closed either due to the season being over or due to COVID. The permanent structures were boarded up, but I did find a small bear box, which I stored a few items to make my backpack lighter (tent, sleeping bag, and my bear canister).
I then headed up to Vogelsang Peak. While on the trail, I got really hot wearing all the layers I had brought, so I went a little off trail to change clothes. I ended up taking off my warm layer (long underwear, fleece sweatpants, convertible pants in pants mode, fleece sweater, down jacket) and putting on my not-warm layers (underwear, convertible pants in shorts mode). I think this was the first time in my life being naked below the waste in a wild setting.
After a little climb, I got up to Vogelsang Lake, which was very pretty. The lake was calm and I loved how the west face of Fletcher Peak reflected off the waters. I kept hiking up, but got lost a little bit, so I had to navigate myself back to the trail using my phone. Finally, I got to the Vogelsang Peak “trail” and started down that road. I wrote “trail” in quotes because it’s not a trail at all. There are no markers nor established trails. Rather, it starts off as a rock field, and I tried best to follow foot prints where ever I could find them.
Once I got up to the peak, it felt unreal looking around as the smoke around me made the views look like something in a cheap video game. What I mean by that is, because the smoke obscured everything at a far distance with a flat shade of gray, the real world seemed like a video game with a set draw distance, with everything past it looking gray.
I came down from the peak, and made it back to Vogelsang Camp. I had a warm lunch (Chicken Dumpling wasn’t very tasty) and headed down to Boothe Lake. I had misread the map, so I thought Boothe Lake would be a 700 ft ascent, but it turned out to be a descent, which was a welcome surprise, given my tired legs.
I popped up my tent, and got everything situated. No one else arrived at the lake, and I enjoyed the lake by myself. I then had dinner, cleaned up, and headed into my tent.
