We parked near Tamarack lodge where the plowed road ends. We hiked on the snow covered road and ski trails to the trail head with minimal post holing. There is a LOT of snow and we saw only a couple tracks (from skiers) from the trail head on.
We broke trail on the way up to Skeleton Lake. There were some phenomenal views on all sides. You could see ski tracks on some of the chutes.
We eventually made it to Skeleton Lake and looked for a campsite that balanced wind shelter with the potential for early and late light.
When we got to the lake I saw two sets of tracks: a lone skier and a fresh set of bear tracks. Good thing I was sharing a tent with others. I volunteered to sleep in the middle.
We proceeded to look around and make camp for the evening.
I dug a kitchen area with a bench and area to cook. The winds was swirling around so the wind shield I made had little real effect, but it looked cool.
Because it's late April we had light late into the evening which was a nice thing about this time of year. Going to bed early is one of the downsides of winter.
The night was not too cold but the wind was gusting the entire time. The morning dawned with patchy cloud cover rolling in. We did eventually get some sunshine but it was long after we crawled out of the sleeping bags.
We eventually packed up and backtracked our trail. We ended up snow shoeing all the way to the cars instead of taking the snowshoes off. Going downhill is so much easier and the thought of even a small amount of post holing just didn't appeal to any of us.
This was another fun trip. It's nice to know that some old friends can still make their way into the mountains. Next year we'll bring more foam to sit on and some over-gloves to make sure the fingers stay warm while visiting before bedtime.