White Pine Lake

White Pine Lake in Little Cottonwood Canyon was a bit of a surprise and the trail information very deceiving.  The small trail sign near the restrooms at the beginning of the trail leads you to believe that the hike to White Pine Lake is 4 miles one way.  Wrong!  Also researching the internet and my hiking book said that the total distance roundtrip to White Pine Lake was 9 miles.  Wrong again!  Or at least I beg to differ.  More like nearly 11 miles roundtrip to actually make it down to the shores of the lake - unless there was a short cut trail that we didn't see or know about.  We met a young couple heading back down the trail who gave up finding the lake after hiking over 4 miles.  They didn't think White Pine Lake really existed.  But we eventually found it!

First glimpse of White Pine Lake from the trail's highest elevation point.  You must drop down 120 feet to reach the lake's shore.  I hiked down a little bit further to get better pictures, but I didn't make it all the way to the shoreline.  I needed to reserve my energy for the hike back.

White Baldy Mountain sets just south of White Pine Lake.

The trail to White Pine Lake is an old road the entire way that was built in the early 1900s to service mines in the canyon.  Today the Forest Service does NOT allow motor vehicles of any type in the area - it is all up to your own two legs to get you to the lake.  It is a very long winding trail following what remains of the road.  However, in spite of the long distance there was a lot to enjoy about this trail.  Hopefully, my pictures captured the highlights of the journey to White Pine Lake.

Lovely section of the trail.

Enchanted mossy area.

Beautiful large fern.

Unusual looking mountain peak.

Me at one of the meadows we crossed.

Stunning views across the canyon.

Many friendly marmots.

 

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 Wildflower of the Week  

 

This wildflower is called Ross' Avens.  It is a high elevation plant with a mass of dark green leaves and bright yellow flowers that look a lot like Cinquefoil flowers.  Ross' Aven is a member of the rose family and was named for John Ross, the first person to reach the magnetic North Pole.  This wildflower was still blooming strong in the rocky slopes near White Pine Lake.

For myself I hold no preferences among flowers

so long as they are wild, free, spontaneous!"

Ed Abbey

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******Miles hiked tally

beginning March 22, 2013
Beginning of this Blog
363.8