Day 1: Trailhead to Golden Lake
The hike in started off nice, then turned very smokey due to the Lookout fire near McKenzie Bridge, OR. It was still a pretty hike, but it was also kind of brutal w/ poor visibility and poor air quality.
Like I pointed out in the post from last year that's linked above, getting to the meadows below Broken Top is pretty rough and dangerous. But I love the spot, so I went again. This time I had more time to explore and take more in. The second day was still pretty smokey, but it was worth it.
Day 3 started off rainy, so I sat in my tent, smoked some vapes (trying not to smoke cigs in the wilderness any more, because of fire danger), did some math, and plotted some day trips. The rain stopped at 1pm-ish, so I did a short-ish trip over to Green Lakes, then up to my secret little spring. Not a lot of pics, since its old territory for me, and there's already a ton of pics of both the lakes and the spring in last year's post.
Decided to do a longish hike to go for a swim in Moraine Lake. Still one of my favourite alpine lakes to cool down in. Again, not a lot of pics, since I took so many last year. Like the previous day, this was more about just relaxing and not taking tons of pics.
I went back to the spot(s) from day 2, since the smoke cleared a bit. I also woke up a lot earlier, to get more time in. I took a ton of pics again. Crossing Whychus Creek was a little more calm than it was on day 2, so it was (slightly) easier to cross. I also didn't have to re-scout out routes, so that allowed for more time to explore, too. The upper meadows (the area from The Bowl to Rainbow Lake) is so amazing, so I spent a lot of time up there. The early start gave me more time to explore the lower meadows more, too.
Just a couple of pics here. I woke up to mosquitoes (which were otherwise absent during the week), and I was out of vapes and I had tobacco in my car. So I pretty much rushed back to the car and didn't take many pics.
Over-all, despite the smoke and the one rainy morning, this was a great trip. Except for Saturday evening, I had the whole Golden Lake basin to myself. The solitude was fantastic. And, of course, it was just great to be in a beautiful setting.