Lemei Lake Trail to Wapiki Lake, Bear Lake, and East Crater


Last week's overnight took us to Bear Lake in the Indian Heaven Wilderness. We left Portland at around 1pm and hit the trailhead at 3:30, stopping at Wapiki Lake as a potential campsite but then deciding that we hadn't earned our dinners yet. We pressed on over the ridge to discover a land of turquoise waters, open meadows, and the worst mosquitoes we've seen this year by a long shot! They were so bad that it was impossible to stop for more than about a minute -- which kept us from taking too many breaks. After the sun went down, the mosquitoes seemed to let up and we got a great view of the Neowise comet (as well as the whole Milky Way) over the lake. But there were about sixty of the little bloodsuckers fastened to our tent when we woke up in the morning. Breaking down camp was a real fire drill.

That being said, this would be a really nice place to visit again in the Fall.

This was my second roll of Kodak UltraMax 400. It's humbling how difficult it is to get a shot that I like. But it’s also been fun to learn something new and totally different.

Bingham Ridge Trail


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Another beautiful day in the Central Cascades. Even though Mt Jefferson never quite came out, the hike up to the ridge took us through a burnout with views of Three Fingered Jack in the distance. There were some mosquitoes along the way, but the main event for them was when we got back to our car. They were swarming the parking lot. Better there than on the trail!

Goat Rocks: A Mosquito-Covered Catastrophe


Hiking into the Goat Rocks Wilderness on a Sunday meant that we were able to grab the picturesque campsite we'd spotted last year. But the snow was melting and the mosquitoes were so thick that we ended up breaking down camp about an hour after we'd pitched the tent and hiking out of there as quickly as our legs would carry us. What was intended to be two leisurely days ended up being a frantic thirteen-mile day with full packs on, traversing dozens of snow fields, and trying not to scratch too much (I would later count more than seventy raised welts on my body).

I am glad to be out of there, and I'll be investing in some new insect-repellent clothing very soon!