Day Two I bonked hard on a hike up Lorna Pass and the day was cut short. Day three rose cloudy and threatening making for some awesome views of Lorna Lake. I opted to pass on this death march since the previous two days of hike a bike wiped me out while the other three made there way to Deer Pass. Lee continues with the story….
Nice dishwasher!
Pat, Zdenek and I headed up Lorna Pass hoping that the weather would hold. Our plan was to go down Lorna and then up to Deer Pass and back and then return via either Elbow or Lorna and possibly bike the Elbow- Lorna ridgeline.
Zdenek up to Lorna Pass. Dale dropped another group and they are catching us in the background (Todd, Rolo, Eric and someone else I forgot – sorry)
Zdenek and Pat start down Lorna Pass
The weather broke beautifully for us and we headed down Lorna Pass to Tyaughton Creek with the clouds parting.
Obligatory Lorna Pass scenic descent
Pat on the descent
Zdenek with storm clouds building in the background.
I did a lot of this route on a very enjoyable five day horse-back supported tour with Spruce Lake Wilderness Adventures last year. We stayed at a camp just shy of Deer Pass but were shut down by stormy weather, rain and snow in high elevations. This time I hoped for slightly better luck
Checking out the Spruce Lake Wilderness Adventures palatial camp
Deer Pass trailhead
Although it was getting cold, the weather appeared to be holding and we were climbing well. Storm clouds kept peeking at us but the clear skies held all the way up to the pass.
Halfway there. View looks N to Tyoax Pass, Manson Creek, Cunningham, Davidson, Relay?? looming in the backgroun
Making our way up – snow hasn’t melted all the way yet.
Pat
Weather breaks at the top of the pass and we hastily retreat after taking some pictures
No time for pictures; just a Norco TeamTi self-portrait.
We’re lucky that we got up to Deer Pass as quickly as we did. The weather starts turning and we begin our 800m descent back to valley bottom railing turn after turn after turn.
Pat on the descent.
Zdenek and Pat – jackets at Deer Pass – short sleeves again in the meadows at the bottom.
The storm clouds looked grim again as we got to valley bottom. We passed a group of friends halfway down Deer Pass and wished them luck as they headed up to the alpine in the teeth of the dark clouds. We got rained on a bit as we approached the Lorna – Elbow junction. Not wanting to chance our luck we bolted back up to Lorna Pass, rode back to Lorna Lake and were back in camp to wait out the storm as it hit hard. Whew for tarps!
Sunset at Lorna Lake after it cleared.
Day 3 route