Mission Mountains Wilderness

Turquoise to Crescent Lakes

July 5th to July 8th, 2007

In my first exposure to the Mission Mountains Wilderness, I was not disappointed. That is not what I thought would be the case on Day 1 of 4. The parking lot was located at the Glacier Lake Trailhead. A nice place, there was even one of the new handicap accessible toilets on location. A couple was preparing for a day at Glacier Lake when I pulled in. I didn’t take long to get acquainted. They informed that I was lucky to come with the parking lot only having four vehicles.

Gee. I normally consider luck at the trailhead as my vehicle being the only one there; else there is just too much crowding going on. Yeah, I guess I’m a little spoiled.

Some hours later I took a nap at Lagoon Lake, where two families eventually came traipsing by, on their way to Turquoise Lake for the day. I continued on with some of them to the lake, where I soon pointed my 80+ pounds of pack and I to the north and off trail. That was the last time I saw anyone until the fourth day as I passed by Crescent Lake and finally on trail again. I don’t count the two people I saw from Camp 2, below Point St. Charles. They were swimming at Crescent Lake, two days before I made the lake. I used my 70-200 mm lens to confirm what I thought I was seeing.

On my trip I saw numerous goats with their ever bubbly kids kicking around in the snowpack near me. I visited Island and Heart Lakes also. I have a tentative plan to revisit these lakes and a few others in the same canyon on a later year with my wife. I also plan on not taking her on any of the bushwhacking route I came down on. I love the lady and would like to stay married to her. Besides, there is probably a better route around those lakes on the north shores, once I am off trail and have gotten passed Crescent Lake.

On Day 4 I made it back to the parking lot. What a shock I got from that! I wondered where all the people were at who had parked a vehicle there. I think there might have been 15 or more vehicles in the parking lot. Actually I counted about 12 people before I got to the parking lot. However, I want to point out the wonderful weather we had tied onto, and the fact that I was there on the Fourth of July weekend. More than that was the information I received about the Glacier Lake trailhead being the most popular spot in the Missions, at least on the eastern side.

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