Lost Lake

Near the end of summer, in late August, the rain stopped, and we saw the sun. Since it was a lost summer, i decided to go to Lost Lake. I'd bought a bunch of new camping gear in spring that i hadn't gotten to try out, so borrowed a bear canister from my neighbor and decided to make it an overnight trip.

After breaching treeline the land opens up and the trail pass by various tarns.

You can approach Lost Lake from the North or the South. Regardless of which side you choose to start from, it's more than 7 miles to the lake. Since it was a shorter drive i started from the North. That route begins at Primrose Creek Campground, near the headwater outlet of Kenai Lake. From there it ascends 6 miles through dense forest to timberline. Upon exiting the forest you are treated to spectacular views of glaciated peaks on the East side of the valley. The last mile or so is a pleasant stroll across numerous tarns and alpine meadows

 Lost Lake as approached from the North. This whole area of mountains and valleys is already 2,000 feet above the Kenai River.

The lake itself is huge, and tucked away on a massive plateau high above the lower valley. The plateau is so large in area, with it's own mountains and valleys, that you'd swear you were at ground level when you get there.

I decided to camp on this long peninsula.

As i have mentioned before, it had been raining all summer long and i went on this trip two days after the rain stopped. The trail was a serious mud sucking bog all the way up to tree line. The unpleasantness was multiplied by the fact that horses are allowed on the trail certain days of the week, and i happened to be there on one of those days. After a rainy summer of doing largely nothing, the sudden shock of doing something difficult was so undesirable that i nearly quit after the first mile.

I have to admit though, it would be a great trip on the back of a horse. An even better option would be floatplane. Two of them landed on the lake after i arrived and dropped off passengers in an area around a bend out of sight. In fact, i waved one of the planes down an tried to buy a ride back to Kenai lake, but the pilot wasn't interested.

 A front and back view of the Big Agnes Seedhouse SL1. The width at the front is 43 inches and 31 inches in the back.

After the planes left there was no one else visible anywhere. I set up camp on a long narrow peninsula that stretches out into the middle of the lake. It almost bisected the lake, with only a 40 foot gap between it and a shorter peninsula reaching out from the other side. I imagine it must have been a moraine.

Sunrise on Mt. Ascension

That spring i'd bought a Big Agnes Seedhouse SL1 one person tent. It's extremely lightweight less than 3 pounds. This trip was a test for it, as i had planned on bringing it along for a multi day hike through the Talkeetnas.

It sets up easy enough, but i discovered a notable flaw. As the night wore on the temperature dropped well below the dew point, and the tent collected copious amounts of water. I am of average height, but the tent is so narrow that when i sat up my shoulders would touch the net walls, covered in dew, and that moisture would immediately transfer to my shirt. That's not good at all, having wet shoulders in 40 degree weather. There are many people much larger than me. Additionally, the vestibule out front of the tent is too small to reasonably accommodate my boots and pack, so those items were drenched with dew in the morning. My review of the tent, then, is that it is not suitable back country mountain travel, unless as a backup. I think it would be fine in the desert (excepting dust storms). Big Agnes makes a two person tent, called the SL2. It only weighs 12.5 oz. more (including the footprint), and i bet that one wouldn't have the same problem if only one person was in it.

One last look at Lost Lake as i was leaving.