Emigrant Lake

Emigrant Lake

After our break yesterday from all activities we headed off bright and early to do the hike out to Emigrant Lake...a 9 mile round trip.  One of us (the one who hates up) stated that there "was no way we should do 9 miles.". Let's say she was ignored and we did in fact make it all the way up to Emigrant and back to the car... during daylight hours and in record time.

 

Coop in Caples Lake

Our usual speed at high elevation or difficult trails is around a mile per hour... today we did 4 miles in 2 hours so pretty quick heading uphill.  The return trip was even quicker...1 1/2 hour over 4 miles.  The trail was mostly flat along Caples Lake and once it turned away the elevation gain wasn't too steep...total elevation gain was only about 950 feet over the 4 miles.  

 

Storm clouds gathering

Not too much to complain about... well except we got caught by a thunderstorm.  Which wasn't too bad considering that our rain gear (which we ALWAYS carry) was left behind in the car.  The excuse was that since we had a bright blue day and rain yesterday that there "was no way we'd get caught".  He was wrong.  Not only did the storm catch us, but we also had some hail to go along with it.  Only pea sized, but as we came down the trail the patches we passed were getting surprisingly big. 

 

Cooper meets a friend

Needless to say we were a bit damp... aka wet when we got back to the car.  Since it was now pouring we decided we'd return to the Inn for a hot beverage and pie.  What better way to end our day... looks like another night of not cooking. Darn it...

Cooper takes in the view