Day: 063
Date: Monday, 08 July 2024
Start: Corona Pass
Finish: Monarch Lake
Daily Kilometres: 38.3
GPX Track: Click here for Julie’s Strava & Photos
Total Kilometres: 1826.8
Weather: Very cold in the morning then mild and sunny.
Accommodation: Tent
Nutrition:
Breakfast: Pop tarts/Muesli
Lunch: Snacks
Dinner: Rehydrated meals.
Aches: Dave - the usual niggles; Julie - nothing reported.
Highlight: Saw our first moose for this trip. Actually two moose, feeding near the outlet of Monarch Lake at the end of our day.
Lowlight: Nothing in particular.
Pictures: Click here
Map and Position: Click here for Google Map
Journal:
We had a day of two halves. The first half started above the treeline in freezing conditions - puddles frozen over, frost and frozen hands - as we set off at 6am to complete our climb up to Rollins Pass. We were in the shadow of the mountain until we reached the Pass and some warming sunshine, but it was a crystal clear day and we had great views.
We stayed above the treeline for the rest of the morning at around 12000’, with awesome views all the way, until we reached Devils Thumb Pass. The scale of the mountains and high meadows made us feel very small.
The descent from Devils Thumb Pass took us below the treeline and into the second half of our day which started with a section of burnt out and fallen timber dating back to a wildfire last year.
Further down we passed through beautiful pine forest and past vast verdant meadows until, near the end of the day, we reached the beautiful Monarch Lake. It was a popular tourist area and there were many about. Just before reaching the picnic area we joined a few of the tourists admiring a couple of moose feeding in the creek.
The picnic area would have been a good place to camp (though probably not permitted although we didn't see any signs), but there were too many people about. So, we followed the CDT down the entrance road and found a tent site out of sight of the road just before 7pm and set up camp.
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