Hello Winnemucca Lake

It’s been awhile since I first wrote about our backpacking trip to Winnemucca Lake and you can read the beginning of it here. There are more pictures and stories to share and tonight I will attempt to bring you another little chapter of that trip. After the boulder Meadow, you are literally a short distance away from the top and peaking over the rim. Be prepared once you reach that moment, because if you thought the two mile hike up was breathtaking already, you will be in awe once you see the lake spread out just over the ridge. Dark blue in color, with Mount Round Top dominating above it, it is nestled in granite, surviving glacier fields from last winter and a few small waterfalls that feed into the lake. It is one of those places that just never get old and we were looking forward to spending the night up there. To watch the sunset and camp out over a full moon rising into the star studded night sky, what could be better!

We reached our camp site (our favorite one out of the three) and set up the tent to store our belongings inside without having to lug it around with us. The site and the view was hard to beat and exactly how we remembered. What a night it would be. We spotted a marmot sunning on a nearby rock and I was in heaven. Little did I know that it would sadly be the only one that crossed our paths. Very unlikely compared to the other times and I’m looking forward to make up for this lack another time. We grabbed the lunch that I brought from home, consisting of hamburger bagels, fruit, and salad and our valuables. Towel in hand and camera in tow, we started heading down the short distance to a tiny grass patch right near the waters edge. We were hungry and the spot for a picnic was picture perfect. We had reached heaven for sure. We stayed for hours, cooling off in the water, exploring flowers and plants, taking pictures while watching other people that seemed to come and go without end. Nobody could stay and sit for awhile and off to the next attraction it was. It was early evening when we started to head back to camp and cooked dinner in the form of a hearty soup with saltine crackers. It was perfect and it filled the spot. The plan was to stay up to play in the moonlight, but we were tired from the early start to our day and the hike up with the heavy packs. A nap wouldn’t be a bad idea and we quickly set up the inside of the tent. Sleeping pad and sleeping bag….check. Pillow and items stored we didn’t needed….check, it felt good to just lay down. If the annoying screeching bird outside could take a break as well for a bit, that would be great. I’m not sure what bird it was and I usually love birds, but this one was so loud and obnoxious to say the least that it was hard to find something likable in the loud screaming. Despite the ruckus, we drifted off into slumber-land at some point and luckily woke up just before the golden hour.

Related Post: Heavenly Meadow

To be continued….😉