Tuesday June 24, 19.6mi/31.5km

North Furlong Creek (1062.7/9900ft) to Lamoille Canyon (1082.3/6410ft) (NV)

It was cold camping at almost 10,000 ft, and I woke up a little later to let the sun warm the valley. Llama and I seemed to be on the same schedule, as we finished packing up our tents at the same time.

It was an easy little hike out of that valley.

After an easy climb to a low pass we dropped into the Favre Lake basin.

The trail didn’t really get near that lake, but fortunately it went directly near Liberty Lake, where we took a long snack break.

From there we said our goodbyes, as our routes would split as I would continue North and he circled back to his car. I started to climb above the lake, I loved watching the morning light reflect off the surface.

Climbing up to Liberty Pass.

From high on the pass, the lake looked like a postcard.

And of course there were snowfields up on the pass.

Goodbye, wilderness of lakes.

Pretty soon I passed by the wilderness sign, which meant I had officially exited the Ruby Mountains wilderness.

From the top of the pass, I could see ahead down into the Lamoille Canyon.

At this point I was only a couple of miles from a popular trailhead so the trail quality improved noticeably.

And I had one more alpine lake to explore, Lamoille Lake.

Despite all the snow, I saw a couple people trying to fish in it.

As approached Lamoille Canyon, the snow started to disappear and everything became green again.

There were still a few large patches of snow, and many of the dayhikers were struggling to understand how to walk on summer snow.

I wasn’t using my hiking poles so I helped them out and gave two of them each a hiking pole for balance. I chatted with the family for a mile, turns out they are from Mocksville NC, and the Seats family have lived there for many decades. Pretty soon after that I arrived at the trailhead parking area, said goodbye to my new acquaintances, and then continued on the roadwalk.

It was a very easy gradual downhill hike, and despite my late start this morning and many long breaks I had covered 20 miles by 5 pm. I couldn’t continue further as I would be entering private property, so I camped at the last possible minute next to the Lamoille Creek. Tomorrow I will have only 3 miles to get to the little town of Lamoille, where I will pick up a few boxes from the post office.