We started our day by stopping off at the Chevron in Kamas to pick up our reserved donuts. The apple fritters are the size of a frisbee!
I failed to take a picture of the trailhead, but we started at Ruth Lake trailhead.
With the drought in the valley, I was surprised it was so green up here. But, I guess it should be green. The snow just melted and its still spring at this elevation.
Same fun bridge we crossed last year. 🙂
This hike is one of my favorites. Very green and wet part of the canyon. The cooler weather made the hike very enjoyable.
One mile up we came to Ruth Lake.
It’s early spring up here. The wildflowers are just blooming. The lily pads don’t have their flowers yet.
We past the lake and then left the trail.
Pulled out the GPS to guide us to the lake. Eli’s favorite electronic. He gets to be the leader and tell us where to hike!
We found a cairn. That’s a good sign! Eli lead us in the right direction!
Came to Liberty Lake.
We followed the river down.
Crossed some big boulders.
And arrived at Jewel Lake.
1.79 mile hike. Eli did wonderful. We only had to carry his pack for .30 miles.
We walked around the lake for a bit looking around for a place to set up camp that wasn’t soggy or full of giant boulders. We hiked up the mountain a little way and this was already set up for us!!
Eli and Paul pulled out the fishing pole and started fishing.
Eli loved all the water skeeters.
The mosquitoes up here were terrible. They just hatched and they were hungry! We didn’t have any mosquito repellant and it was miserable! I set up my mosquito net and Paul’s Father’s day chair and jumped in. I stayed here the rest of the evening. I enjoyed the evening reading my book and eating snacks 🙂
Eli was done with the mosquitoes so he came back to camp jumped in the net with me.
I stayed in the net while Paul and Eli make dinner. The mosquitoes were so bad, all three of us ate in the net.
That night we jumped in our sleeping bags and watched a movie. During the movie I heard a dog bark. We were the only ones at Jewel lake so I dismissed it. Then I heard it again. That wasn’t a domesticated dog. A coyote? They were close!
Was I worried about our safety? Not really, because I know a coyote is afraid of us, but we were in a tent. Would they think we were a threat because they couldn’t see us? So, was I a little nervous? Yes! I mean, the only thing between us and the pack was a paper thin tent. Thin enough to roll up to the size of rolled quarters. Okay, maybe not that small, but you get the point. Not a lot of protection.
About 1/2 hour later they started up again. This time we heard them pretty far away. It’s hard to hear them, and it king of sounds like emergency vehicles, but they are talking to each other.
It was pretty cool to hear them so close to us and again moving father away, making their way across the mountain. Did it make me feel better they were on their way, further away from us? Absolutely!
Did I sleep that night? Nope! I heard every twig break! All. Night. Long.
The next morning we got up and hiked over the ridge to where the coyotes headed last night.
Found their paw print.
More fishing before we head out.
How did we keep Eli busy on the way back for 1.70 miles? Treats every 7 shades. A shade is where a tree shades the trail. Eli counts 7 of these along the trail and we stop for a rest and cheese puffs.
We also play hide and seek with the hand held.
Back at the truck, Eli settled in with his movie. We wore him out!
A quick stop at Kamas Foodtown for mac n cheese, and cheesy potato bites for the ride home!
We all agree this was a beautiful hike and lake and enjoyed our time. We will definitely be back with a gallon of bug spray!
