Continental Divide Trail – Day 93

August 24, 2023
Miles Today/ Total: 27.3 / 1,659.9

The trees helped keep the condensation away last night. It was a little damp, but not too bad. Everything not under the trees was covered with a heavy dew. A thick fog set low in the valley and on the lake.

I started down the trail which followed the lake along the side of the mountain. I was high enough to be above the fog and the lake looked eerie and silent below.

The trail dropped into the valley and the fog as it neared the other end of the lake. The trail turned and headed across the wet meadow beginning a climb up to gunsight pass.

It climbed through the sagebrush meadow, into and out of trees and finally up a wash to the pass. The views from the pass were fabulous and I took a few minutes to soak them in.

The descent was mostly wooded and there was quite a bit of trail work done to keep the trail dry. There were still wet spots, but it could have been much worse. As I neared the valley the trail stretched across some more sagebrush meadow. There were a couple of wet crossings and the trail started to climb up to Lake of the Woods.

It was a beautiful lake nestled in the trees. The trail followed the shoreline and then joined a gravel road for a short distance. I continued on the forest road that became the Leeds Creek Alternate. As the road climbed upwards it revealed a near 360 degree view of the surrounding mountains. The Tetons could be seen off in the distance.

As the sun began to reach the horizon I found a flat area to camp in the high meadow. The view from my tent was amazing as I watched the sky turn orange and highlight the mountain peaks in the distance.