{"id":7102,"date":"2025-07-24T22:21:15","date_gmt":"2025-07-25T04:21:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/grunschev.com\/wordpress\/?p=7102"},"modified":"2025-07-24T22:21:19","modified_gmt":"2025-07-25T04:21:19","slug":"iceberg-lakes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/grunschev.com\/wordpress\/2025\/07\/iceberg-lakes\/","title":{"rendered":"Iceberg Lakes"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I told Gordon, “Let’s camp at Clayton Lake for a couple of nights and go to Iceberg Lakes. Nobody goes there; we’ll have the place to ourselves. I know a game trail that will take us there with ease. We don’t need a permit, so we can go any time. Pick a date.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I’m afraid I gave him some misinformation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I’m always paranoid about parking at the trailhead. We were early enough on a weekday to have no problems, but when we got back to the car on Sunday, a bit after noon, cars were parked for a quarter of a mile down the side of the road.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the back of my map I had scribbled a note: “about 300 yards past coil of cable, take the game trail to the left, next to a sawn tree trunk.” I probably mentioned the coil to Gordon three or four times. I had a chat with a hiker going the other way and asked her if she saw the coil. She said she had on the way up but not on the way down. The trail had been worked on in a few places and I was wondering if maybe they’d taken the cable away. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

All of a sudden, we arrive at Crater Lakes. I never saw the coil. Without the coil as a landmark, it’s a tough ask to pick the right downed tree trunk. So much for finding my nice game trail. Not a big deal, though, as it’s pretty easy navigation. Unfortunately, we never did find a game trail, which surprised and disappointed me. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We arrived at Clayton Lake a few minutes after one. We take the obvious best campsite, at the edge of a large meadow atop a short slope above the lake. Two hours later, two guys show up. There aren’t many places to camp; they ended on a shelf above the other side of the lake. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So much for having the place to ourselves. The next day, another two backpackers showed up and a handful of day trippers visited. The first two backpackers asked, “Are you fishing, or doing anything else exciting?” Different strokes, but I never considered fishing “exciting.” When we told the other backpackers we’d been to Iceberg Lakes, they asked if we fished up there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After sitting beside Clayton Lake for several quality hours, it’s obvious why people like to fish there: the lake is loaded with fish. So many were rising, there were so many ripples, it looked like it was sprinkling. The fish are pretty well camouflaged, but if there’s no glare on the water, they’re easy to spot. Every one I saw was between six and eight inches long. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Friday night, I discovered that I had a bit of a technical issue. I carry a small battery pack on these hikes so I can charge the phone or the action camera. It’ll even charge my new Steripen. Unfortunately, it wasn’t charging my new phone. Gordon had a battery pack, too, but my phone didn’t like it, either. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The problem is, I haven’t figured out how to use the Insta360 without using the phone. And it puts a surprising load on the phone’s battery. I’d been doing some filming during the afternoon, and, well, the phone battery situation wasn’t good. I’d have to keep the phone turned off except when I was working the Insta.<\/p>\n\n\n\n