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Base Camp
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- Statistics:
- Date Hiked: October 30,
1999
- Miles Hiked: 10.5
- Elevation Gain: 2,220'
- Hiking Partner(s): None
- Description:
- I had to keep the Spokane
Mountaineers membership qualifications in mind on this particular
hike. They are as follows:
- To be a member, you must be
at least 15 years old and possess several qualifications: an
appreciation of the outdoors, a willingness to put the safety of the
group above your personal desire for success, a willingness to
assist your fellow trip members if the going gets tough, and, of
supreme importance, a sense of humor. You
will not always get to the summit (and sometimes you
may never even get to leave the trailhead), but if you possess these
characteristics, the chances are you sill still have a good time on
your mountaineer trip.
- I have highlighted the phrase
that applies to this hike. Unfortunately, the results of the Fault
Lake hike were very similar to that of the Two Mouth Lakes
hike from earlier this year. I didn't have any statistics on this
trail, I simply found it on my USFS map and headed out. The trailhead is located approximately 14
miles up the Pack River Road which is north of Sandpoint.
- Just as with the Two Mouth hike,
I never actually made it to Fault Lake. I know I
was on the right path because surprisingly, there were a couple of trail
#59 signs along the way. I hiked up McCormick Creek, over
Deerslide Creek and Gunsight Creek and felt as though I should have been
standing right in Fault Lake. I was in the bottom of a bowl, so I
either needed to go over a saddle, hike around to one more drainage, or
the lake mysteriously disappeared.
- I arrived at the trailhead at
12:00, and because of the late start, loss of daylight, and less than
spectacular weather, I gave myself a 2 hour and 30 minute turn around
time. I was somewhat frustrated by not reaching the lake, and
could tell by my location that 15 more minutes was not going to get me
very far. So, I headed back after 2 hours and 15 minutes.
- The scenery had changed
significantly over the previous weekend. The weather had turned
colder and the snow line was at about 4,900'. The colors were
still nice to look at, the snow covered peaks were beautiful, and the
creeks had several small water falls to view also. One other
appealing characteristic of this hike was that you could see the trail
ahead of and behind you on several sections of the path. Because
of this, it was easier to judge your progress.
- Even though I didn't reach my
destination, I still enjoyed this hike a lot. The views were
excellent and it was only about 25 total miles from Sandpoint.
Since I fell short of the lake on this hike and the Two Mouth hike, I
will most certainly return to these two trails in the summer of 2000 to
officially complete them.
- Maps:
- Both maps face north. You
can see portions of Hunt Lake, McCormick Lake, and Gunsight Peak too.
- Click
here to view a 2D map of
the area where this hike is located.
- Click
here to view a
3D map of the area where this hike
is located.
- Photographs:
- This photo was taken at the top
of the main switchback of this trail. The purpose of the wide shot
was to depict the area where I was heading into.
The arrow indicates the bowl that Fault Lake sits in, which
was of course my final destination.
- As you can tell, I am getting
closer to the lakes and the snow line.
- The defeated
mountaineer (?) prematurely submits to the triumphant
mountains. (I should have been a writer.)
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