Just south of our beloved Crater Lake National Park lies the rectangular Sky Lakes Wilderness. The wilderness is chock full of lakes surrounded by mountains and is a hiker's and backpacker's delight. Well, the delight part depends on the time of year as the sheer lakiness contributes to a horrifying amount of mosquitoness. There are so many mosquitoes in July that if they were to all flap their wings in the same direction, the earth would be knocked off its axis. It's much better to hike in the Sky Lakes Wilderness in late summer when the lakes and trails are lined with huckleberries and blueberries in a mosquito-free environment.
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| Hi ho, hi ho, it's on a hike we go! |
The Seven Lakes Basin, while located in Sky Lakes Wilderness, is cut off and isolated (just like me!) from the rest of the Sky Lakes by the mountains of Jupiter, Devils Peak, Lee Peak, and the ridge connecting the three summits. My intentions were to either hike to all seven lakes or else to make the long trek to Lake Ivern, the most remote of the seven lakes. This was to be the last hike on my vacation and I had gotten into some pretty lethal shape. However, because it was my vacation, I slept in simply because I could, resulting in a starting time a tad bit late for an 18 mile hike.
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| Frog Lake |
The first four miles consist of a pretty good uphill push through viewless forest. The only break in the relative monotony is Frog Lake which is not considered to be one of the seven lakes. The small lake lay at the foot of Venus, a celestially named peak (along with Jupiter, the next peak over from Venus) while the sky above was pretty hazy due to all the wildfires in eastern Oregon and southern Idaho.
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| It's the Devil! |
Topping out at just under 7,000 feet at a pass on Violet Hill, the trail dropped down into the lakes basin and then the cool stuff started. The first cool thing was Devil's Peak, the mountain that dominates most of the views in the basin. A rocky lava thumb protrudes asymmetrically from the top, reminding me of my bicycle accident several weeks ago: no doubt my head had sported some asymmetric protrusions a la Devil's Peak. Avalanche slopes and cliffs decorated and adorned the mountain's face all the way down to yet-to-be-seen Cliff Lake.
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| Green tiger beetle |
What appeared to be waves of flies fleeing in front of me turned out to be, on closer inspection, green tiger beetles. I lost some time taking pictures of the skittish beetles, thanks to my telephoto lens.
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| South Lake |
The first of the Seven Lakes was South Lake, scenically reposing below Violet Hill and an unamed, albeit prominent, rocky knob with an impressive pile of rocks at its base. From there, a short walk around the knob led to a more imposing view of Devil's Peak and the aptly named Cliff Lake.
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| Cliff Lake is the most visited lake in the basin |
Cliff Lake is arguably the crown jewel of the lakes basin, affording ground level views of Devil's Peak and yes, there is a cliff located at the southwest corner of the lake. The Seven Lakes Trail stayed above the lake and much picture taking ensued.
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| Middle Lake |
Call me a centrist, but I much prefer Middle Lake over Cliff Lake on the far left and South Lake on the far right. Continuing with the politics analogy, way out there beyond South Lake is a muddy pond and a metaphor for the Tea Party. Clear and pristine, Middle Lake's transparent waters lapped soothingly upon the shore below the rocky ridge that is Violet Hill. Huckleberries grew abundantly along the shore and my lips and fingers were soon stained purple as is my wont this time of year.
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| Grassy outlet of North Lake |
The trail then dropped, losing elevation rapidly on a descent to North Lake. North Lake is not directly on the trail but a short walk up the grassy but dry outlet creek delivered me to the underwhelming lake. Situated in a grassy meadow, the shallow lake is more bog than lake.
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| You see trail, I see huckleberry bushes |
It was now decision time as to whether to continue to remote Lake Ivern or not. Several factors weighed into the decision: time, miles, and elevation gain. The lake was several miles away and the out and back would add 3 miles to what was already a 13 mile round trip hike. Plus, the descent to the lake would add an extra 500 feet of climb on the return leg which really isn't all that bad but I was already committed to 2,200 feet back to the crest of Violet Hill. And by my reckoning, it was debatable as to whether a return to the car in daylight was possible. So I turned around and headed back the way I had come.
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| The rocky knob overlooking South Lake |
On the way back, I took a brief side trip to a point where I could make out Grass Lake through the trees. So, that meant 5 out of 7 lakes were visited and that is a passing grade in any school.
For the rest of the pictures please visit the Seven Lakes Basin photo album in Flickr.
