The Road Above Quartz Lake

My morning consists of waking up, making coffee, reading and then shaving. The perfect start to another day. Our plan for this day was to hike the road that takes you up on the ridge overlooking Quartz lake. We hiked and talked, the ladies in the lead, hoping not to encounter a bear. There was fresh bear scat everywhere, but we didn’t run into any critters as we marched. The overlook was beautiful! When we arrived there was a eagle souring below us riding the updrafts above the lake and up in the clifts. I got a picture of it, but it was not close enough to see any detail. We ate lunch and sat in the shade.

Looking southeast over Quartz Lake.

Quartz Lake looking northeast.

Baka’s ears perked up and our attention was drawn to a couple of hikers coming from the south along the ridge. They had a dog and were looking at their GPS unit as they approached. Baka was very good and sat very nicely the entire time the dog and people were there. It turns out that they were looking for a geocache that was planted within 100 feet of where we were. They gave Daren the coordinates (Rocky Bluff, N 49deg 53.328', W 115deg 38.830')and he entered them into his GPS and the hunt was on. It took less then ten minutes for them to zero in on the cache. Once they had circled it a couple times, Linda walked over and pointed to it hidden under a rock. We signed the log and talked about caching. The couple had only found about three other caches, but they were really enjoying the hunt.

Marcy and Linda goofing off.

An eagle in flight over Quartz Lake.

About half way through the hunt another couple drove up to the overlook spot. This couple had camped next to us the previous night and Daren had talked to them in camp. We chatted and everyone went their separate ways, but before the couple who drove up left they said that they had seen a cinnamon bear on the road in and that we should keep an eye out as we walk back.

No bears! We saw lots of scat but no bears, I was kinda bummed. We hiked back, Linda talked all the way, so that could have been one reason there were no bears. I think she planned it that way. Oh well what can you say.

We went back to camp and made dinner. Daren and Marcy made tortellini in a red sauce and I made my first beer bread in a dutch oven. I also made fudge cake for desert by stacking two dutch ovens. Everything came out great, I was so excited. We went to bed after sitting by the fire, it was a very fun day.