Camping at Hanging Lake

I went camping at Hanging Lake up the South Fork of Eagle River this weekend. It was a test-run for my brand new backpack I'll be taking on a week-long back country trip to Katmai in late June. It was good to see that my bear proof canister fit in there with my warm sleeping bag, but it is a tight fit. With some creativity and things strapped on the outside it should work. Plus, we'll be able to spread the communal gear among four of us in Katmai. All four of us will even have the same backpack - at least mine is a different color from the other three!

 New Osprey Exos pack - only 2 lbs 3 oz when empty!

When I headed out yesterday afternoon it was sprinkling, and it continued to rain all night, but I was cozy in my spacious two-person tent by myself. When I got up to Hanging Lake I was surprised that there was still ice on the lake and quite a bit of snow on the ground. I had forgotten that there is quite a bit of elevation difference between the lake and where we live in Eagle River. It was colder than I expected, but I was plenty warm in my zero degree (aka Alaskan summer) sleeping bag.

Hanging Lake

This morning the weather was a little better and once I started hiking out the sun stayed out and it was downright hot. There were tons of people once I got back to the main South Fork Trail. The last person I talked to before I got back to my car was not really having a great time. After we chatted for a minute I said "Enjoy your hike!" and started to head on my way when he replied "I'm done hiking already. To tell the truth, I hate this crap. I was never an outdoorsman." ....How do you respond to that??? I just laughed a little and kept hiking!

The very back of Hanging Valley

The water level is very low in all the creeks and ponds - so little snow to melt this year!

Descending from Hanging Valley