In Search of High Lakes

Forty years ago I started keeping track and making a paper list of high lakes in the Cascades.  I was interested in finding low elevation lakes that would offer early spring access for fishing. In order to make some organized sense to this list I started entering data such as the name of the lake and the elevation into an early Apple computer using Apple Works, and wonder of wonders, I could sort this list by name or elevation! So next i added the size of the lake in acres, and depth of the lake in feet. Oh, and then, I added hiking distance, trailhead elevation, access roads, and snow melt dates.  Eventually 20 some different fields of information were set up to enter and sort.  When my son Michael retuned from the Air Force he suggested that he could build a website, and Cascade Ramblings was born. It was an unbelievable concept to me that all the data which I had collected in my personal computer on high lakes could now be available for others to see and use.

I no longer seek out the hidden gems of the wilderness.  Tramping through the snow with a heavy pack loaded with fishing gear and an inflatable raft,  have been replaced with a more sedentary obsession of counting and photographing birds. Over the years Cascade Ramblings branched out to include sections for wildflowers, mushrooms, critters, a trip journal, and eventually this blog. The section for destinations of lakes, peaks, and trails sits idle.  This changed yesterday when two modern day adventurers sent me photos of remote lakes from their cell phones while they were on location.

The first was Erik Badziski's photo of Black Crater Lake.  This lake is in Cascade Ramblings, but is a lake I have never been to in real life, only in my far off sleepless nights.  Below is his photo. Thanks so much Erik.

Black Crater Lake - April 26, 2020

The second photo was from Kevin Wright of Ann Lake.  This was special for a different reason.  I have been there many times over the years, but the first time was with my family in 1946. It's always a pleasure to check back into all the many memories I have of this unique lake.  Thank you Kevin.

Ann Lake - April 26, 2020