An Epic 3 Days of Backpacking in the Trinity Alps

Sometimes the best plan is to just do it. One day Adam was telling me he wanted to go on a backpacking trip with me before school started up again in the fall. He mentioned having three days off the next week and really wanting to go somewhere. I also had three days off. "When are you off next week bro...? Wednesday, Thursday, Friday? ME TOO LET'S GO!"

I had been dying to go do the Four Lakes Loop in the Trinity Alps. So after showing the trail to Adam we decided to go for it. But on the morning of the trip, after looking at all the numbers and everything, we decided we wanted to do something a little more mellow. Four Lakes looked like it would take a lot out of us. We wanted to have energy to enjoy our time up there and get to explore where we were at. We didn't have an exact destination in mind, but we knew we wanted to go to the Alps, so we hit the road and headed north.

I don't think we fully decided where we wanted to go until we left the Ranger Station in Redding. Tangle Blue Lake. It looked like a pretty mellow hike along a river and up to this awesome lake, and there were a few things in the surrounding area for us to check out during our stay.

The hike in was not as mellow as we thought. Everything we read said about two miles. It ended up being about four and a half. It also said 1,500 feet of elevation gain. It ended up being about 2,500. But still, we made it to the lake, Adam only threw up twice. And it ended up being a great time. 

We had the place to ourselves the first night. It was awesome getting to be out and away from everything. It was perfectly quiet up there. All we had to listen to was the wind. 

Both nights we were lucky enough to have a couple of the most amazing sunsets. Thanks to those summer thunderstorms up there. Mother Nature really put on a show. The first night we had written it off as it was cloudy and getting dark. The clouds were losing any light and the sun had dropped behind the horizon. We started to head back when I notice a slight purple light in the sky. I looked at Adam and started sprinting back to my spot above the lake. So happy I made it back! The second night we were a little late in setting out. We missed golden hour, and rushed a bit to catch the colors. But it ended up working out in the end!

The clouds cleared away for the night sky. Giving us a brilliant view of the Milky Way. We spent quite a while working on this. It felt good to put something together and really create. Rather than just run around taking photos. I felt like I really made this photo. 

I can't wait to get back up to the Alps, and I'm really stoked to explore some more with Adam. Such a good dude to hang with. Always up for anything, especially if we get the shot!