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2. Jewel Lake and the Spearhead. Another gentleman started the same hike at the same time as me. Our paths crossed a couple of times even though we didn't always take the same path. Just past Mills Lake, at the bridge crossing the stream to the Glacier Gorge campsite, we split. He took the high road, forging ahead through undisturbed snow, probably very close to the summer trail. I took the low road, following the streambed, clearly the popular choice based on tracks. But I didn't get very far. The snow over the stream provided very uneasy footing. Especially when I could hear water rushing below me, I tread very carefully. This was in clear contrast to my hike two days earlier to Timberline Falls where I followed the streambed. Not once did I feel the threat of breaking though there. But here the risk was clear. The water wouldn't be very deep, but it sure would be cold. I finally gave up on that route and decided to backtrack to the point where my friend and I split. Then I followed his tracks for a while. I gave up on that before too long too. The snow was just too deep and non-supporting to be a fun hike. So I started to head back down. |