Dates: July 13-14, 2019 Duration: 2 days, 1 night Mileage: ~10 miles Group Members: Nick McGuire, Daniel & Amy Negron, Justin & Katie Pack Weights: Between 35 & 40 lbs Notes: Stopped at the CAL Fire station in Colfax (opens at 8AM on Saturday) to get a campfire permit. The guys there were super friendly again and gave us a permit for a year. Grouse Ridge road was in pretty good condition up until ~mile marker 5 where large drifts of snow covered the road making it mostly impassible (a jeep made it through with a winch). Had to back up and park on the side of the road and then hike about a quarter mile to the campground which was covered in snow in lots of places. Temperature was very nice, low 70s during the day and low 50s at night with a bit of wind in the afternoon which died down by night. Left tent fly at home due to warm weather - definitely not needed. Day 1: (~ 5.4 miles) Grouse Ridge Campground/Trailhead to Five Lakes Basin Left the car about 11:45 and got to the trailhead parking lot around 12:15PM. Headed out towards Glacier Lake and the 5 Lakes Basin via the same trails in the Summer 2008 and 2012 trips. Followed Trail 13E28 from trailhead to 13E13 to Glacier Lake and then 13E50 to Five Lakes Basin. Trail was hard to follow in some places due to large snow drifts covering it in places so the going at first was good but then slowed as we got closer to Glacier Lake. Trail heading north to Sand Ridge and the 5 Lakes Basin from Glacier Lake was easy to spot at first but then disappeared due to a huge snow drift. Found it after a bit and made it to the south end of the first larger lake near sand ridge. Traveled along the south end east and then headed off trail to the North-East to head down into the basin and attempt to make camp at the same campground we found in 2008 and stayed at in 2012. Came in on the south side of the lake - should have headed further north before reaching it to approach it more at the middle. Arrived a little after 5PM and luckily no one was camped there and we were able to setup camp. Campsite fire pit and kitchen area had been improved a bit more and was very nice. Log was still there but still soaking we and unusable.
Day 2: (~ 4.5 miles) Five Lakes Basin to Grouse Ridge Trailhead (via Sand Ridge) Woke up around 7AM and left camp by about 9:15AM. Headed west from the campsite to the north end of the lake where we had headed off trail the day before. Skirted its northern edge and followed its western shore to the south until almost reached its south end. Just before the south end of the lake there are some woods with some campsites where you can pick up the trail to Sand Ridge. Hiked back to the trailhead via Sand Ridge (shorter and very scenic but obviously more exposed) which made for a nice loop again. Beautiful wildflowers all along the ridge and there was no snow so the trail was much easier to follow. In the future it would be best to head to the campsite from the north end of the lake near sand ridge vs. cutting over from the south end.
