Trekks and Travels: Duffy Lake TH to Red Butte Lake 29 May 2015

Thunderstorms were predicted for the Cascades so I started early - 6am, intending to be back to the car by 2p. The day was beautiful, a crisp, clear morning, not a cloud in the sky but by noon they were billowing up around the peaks. There were several cars in the lot at the Duffy Lake TH, backpackers, no doubt. The birds were singing and the sun filtering through the trees all the way along the 3.3 mi section to Duffy Lake. Lots of wildflowers including: bunchberry, Oregon grape, anemone, trillium, strawberry, buttercup, phlox, shooting stars, marsh marigold, wild dandelion, a lily of some sort, (lupine, beargrass, and paintbrush were just getting buds), plus mushrooms. I was going to hike to the top of Red Butte but as I started up, the trail became indistinct and the bugs multiplied. I sat down to drink some water and when I put my pack on the ground a whole cloud of them flew up. I did not receive one bite, however, because I had used the bad stuff - deet - when I saw bugs were going to be a problem. So, instead of going up the butte, I descended and continued along the trail to 8 Lakes Basin. After Alice Lake I was rewarded with a view of Mt Jefferson. In order to get the picture below, I did have to go up and off trail a bit. Continued on until I found Red Butte Lake, all alone and serene at the base of some rocks. I had not seen another soul at this point and didn't until I was back at Duffy Lake -some backpackers were setting up camp. Beautiful day and though the clouds increased, the rain and thunder did not catch me out.

map
13 mi, 2000ft gain