Lonesome Lake

Lonesome Lake is a cool hike that we turned into a nice overnight. The lake is up near Tennessee Pass, and you start at a big dam. A lot of people go in to this lake to fish, but we just wanted to check it out. It was worth it. It's about 5 miles one-way, and many people do it as a dayhike, but the camping there is excellent.

The hike is a nice one, although the trail gets a little hard to follow at times, especially if there is still snow on the ground, which there was a little when we did the hike. There's only one lake up there, and it is in a really cool cirque, so just keep bushwhacking if you lose the trail and you'll find it.

So the cirque that the lake is in is really pretty, and it is also the continental divide. I was able to hike up from the lake to the divide in about 20-30 minutes. You get fair views of the other side of the range, but not as nice as the cirque you are in. Another cool activity is to hop out from rock to rock to the center little island (really a big rock) in the middle of the lake. It would have made a great picture if we had brought our camera.

When you reach the lake, there are very nice camping spots right in front of you. Here's a tip - take one of them. The other side of the lake, though it may look inviting, is all sloped and rocky and you will have a miserable, sliding experience (trust me) if you try to camp over there.