I was glad to have my little Subaru on the way up. Most of thee Fourth of July Road is easily passable by most passenger cars, but there are a few tricky bits where I was glad for the extra clearance. I'm not sure how my dad ever managed it with a fully-loaded minivans (my worldly possessions were still in the van last time). And I had completely forgotten how long the road seems in a car. But, with only mild abuse (and no bottoming out) I made it to the trailhead.
Diamond Lake is somewhere over this direction. The trail heads off to the northwest, and then crosses the North Fork Middle Boulder Creek, and heads back southeast to the lake. Much of the trail is basically a traverse.
Right where the trail crosses the creek, there's a rather pretty cascade. This is the best pic I got.
Despite it being almost July, there was still a lot of snow on the trail. So much snow, in fact, that I kept losing the trail. There were a wide variety of footprints heading off different directions, and I kept taking wrong turns and having to backtrack. It was so snowy, in fact, that I never actually found the lake. I wandered around the alpine meadows for a while (on the snowfields, really) and then decided to take a waterfall pic and head back.
I'm assuming this is a cascade that feeds into Diamond Lake . . .
The Diamond Lake trail is known for the streams that cross the trail along the traverse leading up the valley. Most, I could run across, but this one was a little precarious for that. It's always a little nerve wracking. I'm just glad my new trail shoes grip so well on even wet rocks.
And looking up at the same creek crossing.
This was a rare run for me, in that it took longer to drive to and from the trailhead than to actually run the trail. But, the driving is fun too, so it works out.
Right, it's kickoff time for the final of the Confederations Cup. Gotta go . . .
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