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Titcomb Basin as seen from above Mistake Lake
Day 2 - Friday, September 1, 2006 -
Hike from Hobbs to Titcomb Basin
It had frosted during the night so we waited until the sun hit our tent
before we got up. We then had a hot cereal breakfast , packed up and headed out
towards Titcomb Basin. When we reached Seneca Lake we had a siesta
on the beach for about an hour, enjoying the warm sunshine. We got
to Titcomb Basin at around 4pm and set up camp just below Upper Titcomb
Lake. It was a nice spot out of the wind and near the middle of the
valley so we would get the most out of the sun. As it was the sun
went behind the peaks at around 5:30pm and only hit our tent again at
around 8:45am. Once the sun was gone it sure got cold fast, but it
went from about 34 degrees F to the mid 60's in about 10 minutes in the
morning. This is why we waited until the sun was on us before we
started hiking, otherwise we would be stuck carrying jackets with us all
day. |
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Robert watching the waterfall at Lower Titcomb Lake
Day 3 - Saturday, September 2, 2006 - Hike up to
Mistake Lake
We decided to have an easy day and hiked up to Mistake Lake, which was
about a 15 minute hike from our camp. On our way up there we met up
with two other hikers who had just done Gannett Peak and were heading out.
They handed us 4 Clif Bars and a bag of dried apples, which we accepted
gladly. However, I did not want to take too much from them or we
would have food left over which we would have to carry out.
Mistake Lake was pretty and the view of Titcomb Basin
from the peaks around it was beautiful. Titcomb Basin has a stark
beauty to it which I simply love. As it is so remote few people
every get to see it. We then headed around the bottom
of Lower Titcomb Lake and slowly made our way back up to camp. |
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Robert on one of the Titcomb Needles (Gannett Peak is the
3rd peak from the far right.)
Day 4 - Sunday, September 3, 2006 - Hike up to
the Titcomb Needles - 12,520 ft
After breakfast we set off up the scree field leading from near our camp
up to the tallest of the Titcomb Needles. It took us just 2 hours to
get up there, which surprised us both, however we were panting hard most
of the way due to
the altitude. Robert decided to climb over to another of the
needles, which he got to in less than 10 minutes. The above photo
shows him on the top of the needle. We had lunch then decided to do
several of the other peaks around there, seeing as we were already up
there. In the photo at the top of this page, the blue dots indicate
some of the other peaks we went up.
Wildflowers on the trail
We took another way down, leading us down
to Lower Titcomb Basin. In all we were out hiking for 5 hrs 20
minutes. Our feet were quite sore and Robert had a blister on his
big toe from coming down from the top.
As we were in serious need of a
bath we took our toiletries down to the lake and cleaned up a bit.
The water was really cold but we still managed to wash hair and all other
necessary parts.
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