The Ice Lake Trail is definitely an interesting trek. I recommend going slowly enough to really enjoy it.

One of the cool things about the run/hike to Ice Lake is that you can see the peaks surrounding the upper basins long before you get there. The closer you get, however, the less you can see of the pointy peaks because they disappear behind the broad face of Fuller Mountain at the far end of the lower basin.

You might have noticed that "vanishing" phenomenon in the series of photos I showed you in the last entry.

As soon as you enter the lower basin, you can also see the general course you'll be taking to the right of several waterfalls at the far end of the basin. The waterfalls are like a beacon, drawing you closer and closer to the upper basins:

I marked two of those waterfalls with red arrows in the picture above. There are at least two other waterfalls to the left of the lower falls, and one or more left of the upper falls, but the falls you see close up while climbing the slope are the ones I marked.

Here's the map of the Ice Lake Trail and basins again. I highlighted in orange the portion of the trail I'll talk about in this entry. We've already covered the section marked in yellow. The trailhead on South Mineral Creek Road is to the far right:

If you look at the contour lines you'll see that the first segment of the trail to the Lower Ice Lake Basin gains over a thousand feet of elevation. The section through the lower basin undulates gradually, a nice break from all the climbing. Next is a continuous climb of about 1½ miles past several waterfalls fed by all the drainage from the upper basins and up into the lower part of the very large Ice Lake Basin.

Are you confused yet? Just check the map. You can see all the contour lines indicating some major elevation gain.

This segment enters an alpine world of rocky trail, low shrubs, perky wildflowers, and grand vistas to the east, north, and south. We'll emerge into the basin at an elevation of over 12,000 feet and end this segment at beautiful turquoise-colored Ice Lake. In the last part of this series, we'll explore the tundra in part of the upper upper basin.

ROCK 'N ROLL

The next picture shows where we're going, approximately. Because of all the shrubbery and rocks you can't see the trail up to the high basins from below, so I've marked where I think it goes on the next photo, beginning at the creek crossing where I ended Part 2:

It's much easier to see where you've gone -- or will be going on the return -- when you're up high and looking down on these trails.

Here are a couple views of the lower falls as you approach them from the creek. The trail passes close to the falls on the right:

 

The part of Ice Lake Trail up to and past these waterfalls is full of rock ledges and loose stones:

 

The trail passes rather closely to the top of the lower falls, so keep your wits about you there.

Fortunately, I never have to worry about Cody on cliffs; he's got a good sense about edges and drop-offs:

Cody-the-mountain-goat surveys the falls from a safe distance.

I have to be more careful about myself. Sometimes I lose my balance when I'm, um, focusing on taking pictures, like the flowers below:

Flowers along the edge of the trail next to the falls. Note the streams 200-300 feet below.

If I had slipped on the loose rocks here, it would have been a painful fall down the rocky cliff next to the falls:

The trail continues to climb at a moderate grade as it winds through the rocks and low shrubbery to the next waterfall:

One of Fuller Mountain's shoulders is on the left in the photo above. A stream heads for the falls we just passed. The upper and lower basins are one big drainage area and stay wet all summer as the snow continues to melt.

As you continue the climb up this side of Fuller Mountain there are great views down into the lower basin. It's interesting to see your progress as you get higher and higher.

During my predominantly westbound hike up to the high basins there were a lot of clouds to the east and north. This view to the north (toward Island Lake and Clear Lake) doesn't look too promising, does it?

Well, I'm not a total dummy. Yes, I was hoping to make it to the upper Ice Lake Basin and beyond, but I'm not going to climb into a nasty storm. What kept me going was seeing bright blue skies in the direction in which I was headed and observing which way the wind was blowing. I didn't hear any thunder.

This is a view of one of the higher falls emanating from Fuller Lake. The sky looked great to the southwest and west:

In the next picture you can see yet another falls left of that one. There is a faint trail heading in that direction but I've never taken it. Someday I'll go over there . . .

The trail takes a turn north to contour around the side of the mountain. It is much smoother and less hilly in this section as it undulates through a field of colorful wildflowers, bright green shrubs, and soft alpine grasses:

That changes before the grand entrance to the upper Ice Lake Basin, as the trail becomes steeper and rockier:

Here's one last view down into the lower basin before we lose sight of it:

Now for the main show! We're about to enter . . .

. . . AN ALPINE FANTASY WORLD

Welcome to the Ice Lake Basin!

This is tundra territory, full of the remnants of many feet of winter snow, ice-cold streams and lakes, colorful rocks and lichens, squeaky marmots and pikas, and tough, low-growing flowers and moss that are able to survive really long winters at this high altitude.

You can't see the lake for a little bit yet, but the surrounding peaks are simply fantastic (I'm already running out of superlatives and it's only June).

Not all the mountains are shown in any one photo below, but from left to right (south to northeast) they are Fuller Peak, Vermillion Peak, Golden Horn, Pilot Knob, and Grant Peak. They are all in the 13,700-800+ foot range. Some of the folks who come up here aren't just exploring the basin or lounging around Ice Lake; climbing to the summits of these peaks is also popular in the summer.

Here are some views from the trail before you get high enough to see Ice Lake:

 

 

When Jim and I first saw Ice Lake last summer we had what is probably a typical reaction: WOW! How beautiful!!

Like nearby Island Lake, on the Hardrock course (in the basin over the ridge to the north), the water in Ice Lake is a lovely, deep turquoise color that looks like a gem from higher up. Although there aren't any glaciers in this area to my knowledge, the color of the water in these two lakes looks just like glacial melt.

Ice Lake may resemble Island Lake in color but it is a little bigger and definitely easier to access because it's much closer to the trail and not down a steep slope.

Today there were at least two dozen people enjoying the lake when Cody and I got up there. I was able to take most of my photos without strangers in them, however. Most folks were congregated at the eastern end of the lake and I was more interested in the views to the south and west.

Before heading up further into one of the basins, I walked around the southern half of the lake shore looking for photo ops from different angles:

 

 

There is a trail that connects Ice Lake Basin with Island Lake. You can see it on the map at the top of this entry and in the next photo (see arrow). Some folks were walking down that trail today while I was admiring Ice Lake.

Neither Jim nor I have ever taken that trail. It would make a good circuit run or hike either clockwise or counter-clockwise from the eastern end of the Lower Ice Lake Basin, incorporating the Ice Lake Trail and the trail to Grant-Swamp Pass.

Two young women who were back-packing with a yellow Labrador retriever asked me to take their picture in front of Ice Lake, then offered to take Cody's and my picture:

I had taken Cody's pack off so he could play with the other Lab and chase the ball the women were throwing into the water. Cody flew into the lake to retrieve the ball once, then declined to go back in again -- it was that cold! He did wade into some of the other lakes and streams in the upper basins while we were up there today, but only to drink some water.

There were almost as many dogs on the Ice Lake Trail and up at the lake today as there were people. With all the available water, this is a good trail for dogs.

DESCENDING THIS SECTION OF TRAIL

Cody and I spent more than an hour exploring one of the basins that's even higher than this one. I'll show photos from that in the next entry. While I'm talking about this section of trail, however, I'll include photos I took on the way back down.

The clouds to the west had definitely morphed from fluffy white to angry dark gray so I knew it was time (perhaps past time) to get down to a safer elevation. Some of the other visitors to the lake had already begun their descent but there were a few people still hanging around Ice Lake and I passed by:

 

By this time in the early afternoon, the sky was more blue to the east and north -- again, the direction in which I was heading!

As I reached the "portal" to the Ice Lake Basin, I met several people who were hiking UP to the basin.

That surprised me, considering how ominous the skies looked in that direction:

On my way back down to the lower basin I felt some light sleet and rain off and on for a few minutes but I never did hear any thunder or see any lightning. Before long, the skies to the west were blue again. The storm clouds passed by quickly and all was sunny again in the basin.

But you just can't tell with mountain storms. They're always a crap shoot. I don't regret being cautious today.

I followed a group of four young folks down to the waterfalls but they gained on me because I kept stopping to take pictures:

Isn't that a great view of the lower basin and the colorful mountain (Bear, I think) on the south side of Mineral Creek Road?

This part of the trail would be fun to run down but then you'd miss some of the little details and the expansive views:

I've found ways to compensate for not being able to run any more! Now I see more things and talk to people more.

In Part 4: exploring a few higher basins above Ice Lake

Happy trails,

Sue
"Runtrails & Company" - Sue Norwood, Jim O'Neil, and Cody the Ultra Lab

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© 2010 Sue Norwood and Jim O'Neil