On Sunday, Doug, Jaime, Jason, Sam, my canine friend Gurr, and I began our adventure, by taking the Echo Lakes water taxi ($9.50/person, one way). We started walking just before noon. From the upper end of Echo Lakes, we did an exploratory day-hike on the Triangle Lake semi-loop trail. This splits off from the Pacific Crest Trail, above Echo Lakes, and well before Tamarack Lake. This marked side-trail is fairly steep, but fortunately most of it is in the shade. After we came to a flat saddle, we went down a fairly steep spur trail to the relatively small Triangle Lake, which has a good camp site. And it is a nice, quiet place to eat lunch.

When we reached the saddle on the way out, we turned right for the other part of the semi-loop. When we got beyond the heavily forested part, we had stunning views of Tamarack Lake, Ralston Lake, Ralston Peak, and Pyramid Peak. When we reached the PCT again, it was well beyond Tamarack Lake. Although there was a marker at this trail junction, there was no mention of Triangle Lake.

On the way back, we had some extra time. So we followed the ducked spur trail to Tamarack Lake. After taking a break there, we skirted the South shore, and followed a discontinuous trail to reach the gorgeous Ralston Lake. After enjoying the views there, we took a cross-country short-cut to return to the PCT. Rather than taking the water taxi back from the upper end of Echo Lakes, we walked the extra 2.5 miles, and treated ourselves to great views of the lakes.

The main trail above Echo Lakes has a lot of sharp rocks; so I kept Gurr on leash most of the time. At the end of the day, his feet were in good condition. As usual, Gurr took every opportunity to jump in the water. Jaime took a long swim at Tamarack Lake, reporting that the water was not bad near the shore, but much colder further out.

That reminds me, Murphy's Law of Hiking states that there can be no adventure without some misadventure mixed in. We learned that Labor Day weekend is not the best time to find a parking space at the Echo Lakes trailhead. And I took a fall forward on the trail, landing on my knees. Ouch!

Here is the link for Sam's photos of the Triangle Lake hike:
pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/brick...ust/album