Grouse Ridge to Glacier Lake trail map
Grouse Ridge to Glacier Lake profile
Group photo at Grouse Ridge Trailhead. From left: Jerry, Kris, Rich, Sheila, Mike, Daniela, and Frank (AKA Tiocampo). This trailhead is reached via a moderately-bumpy 8-mile road.
Milk Lake. Sand Ridge (below the skyline) and Sierra Butte (on the skyline).
Haystack Mountain (middle left) ... Snow-capped Mount Lassen is barely visible on the horizon.
Drought-tolerant flowers
Descending Grouse Ridge
Peak 7635, near Grouse Ridge
Mike stalks his prey, in the corn lillies ... The hunter becomes the hunted!
Rich, our leader!
Kris and Daniela
Entering the forest ... It was a sunny day, and we were glad to be in the trees, at least for a while.
Open granite slope. Getting closer to Black Buttes
Black Buttes, peeking over the top
Mixed open country made for an interesting hike
Mike and Daniela
Watching the clouds. Sub-tropical moisture was streaming in ... is it going to rain on us?
Picture time
Lupine was everywhere, in this area.
Looking up at Hill 7547, approaching Glacier Lake
The Black Buttes are a small, but rugged range.
Jerry, Sheila, and Kris are climbing toward Glacier Lake. Grouse Ridge, our starting point, is on the skyline
A zoom-out view of the previous scene
Looking at the canyons and ridges to the south of our trail
Rocky, rugged slopes
The trees show evidence of deep snow pack and windy conditions
Western flank of Black Buttes
Northern view of Black Buttes ... looks interesting. Would we have gas in the tank to climb up there today?
Developing view of Glacier Lake's cirque
Glacier Lake is ahead, beyond these trees
Wind-blasted slopes
Sierra Butte, wind-sculpted trees
Zoom-in view of Sierra Butte
Daniela relaxing at Glacier Lake She is an excellent and friendly hiking companion, but don't count on her sticking around, if you're not a fast hiker. As she later explained, "I can't go slow! Can't do it!"
Kris relaxing at Glacier Lake. She shared some dried cherries that were deliciously tart!
Mike gave a clinic on how to skip rocks
Check out the new growth on this tree!
Glacier Lake. We found a couple of dozen people here, day-hiking and camping! This is not the place to come for solitude!
Looking at the slope across Glacier Lake. Is the ridge beckoning to any climbers out there?
We watched a group of hikers descending.
A rare, seldom-seen Sierra Rainbow Snake
We considered hiking around the lake. The opposite shore didn't look very inviting
This is the way to go, if you want to climb the ridge
Leaving the group to relax at the lake. Resistance is futile! Rich, Mike, and Frank are climbing the ridge!
How many tents can you count?
This route had lots of options, many easy gullies
Looking down on Glacier Lake, as we climb the ridge
