4th of July Lake - Carson Pass

[TollerMom]

I did this hike one time before way back in the early 90's. It was on the 4th of July to be exact. At the time, my friend and I were peering down the canyon pondering the lake below when a ranger warned us 'the hike is a huffer!'. WHAT DOES SHE KNOW, WE THOUGHT. Ha. Turns out she knew a lot. The climb down to the lake was straight down and of course, straight back up. Hot, Hot Hot.

Fast forward some 20-odd years. I have been hesitant to do this hike again because all I can remember is how hot it was and how hard it was to climb back up that exposed slope but my new hiking friends had not been down the trail before so we figured what the heck. One step at a time is all we have to do.

The hike originates from several points on the Carson Pass and we chose to come up from Woods Lake/Lost Cabin Mine trail. We also chose to be at the trailhead by 7am in order to alleviate the heat as we hiked. It's a lovely climb up to Round Top Lake.

Once at Round Top Lake, we went around the backside of the Sisters and started to head down the canyon to the lake.

A beautiful thing about the passing of time is that in the 20-some-odd years since I last was on this trail, the original trail that went STRAIGHT down is now a series of about 5 or 6 long sweeping switchbacks. Thank you for that!

The funny thing about this hike is you see the lake from the top of the ridge but it seems the closer you hike to the lake, the further away it gets. Does that ever happen to you? After a quick lunch, and after admiring our 'hikers bling' (a girl does need some bling ya know)

..we begin the climb back out of the canyon and up/over the ridge.