DAY 3. INCONCEIVABLE!
I felt much better in the morning. Maybe I can hike up to the lakes after all, I thought. It’s only a 1400 ft. climb from here. It was a tough climb for sure but I felt good overall. It is not easy getting to Twin Island Lakes. The only reason I wanted to was because of the outlet waterfall. However, I had serious doubts I could see it anyway. In fact, this was the one waterfall I thought for sure I’d strike out on. Looking at the terrain on Google Earth, it was inconceivable how I could get down to see it. It seemed far too steep and cliffy. There is no possible way to do it.
It was a lot of effort getting up there, for possibly no reward. Perhaps I should just go somewhere else. I thought about that for awhile, but in the end I went up to the lakes. After climbing 1400 ft. to the top of the ridge (9800 ft. elevation – my high point on the trip), you then need to descend down a 200 ft. talus slide to get to the lake. Careful careful. Crazy crazy. It is actually quite an adventure getting there.
It was very windy down at the lakes. I started to setup my tent and it almost blew away off the cliff. Inconceivable! I dragged my tent over to a less windy location to try again. It was not that much less windy; I got it set up successfully, but it was still flapping all over the place. I made sure it was as secure as could possibly be. Hopefully, I would not get blown away in the night, like Dorothy in Wizard of Oz.
After a rest I decided to make the big try in the afternoon down to the falls. There is no possible way I can climb down the cliff to the bottom of the falls. Wait, there is an opening here. I might actually be able to do this. Inconceivable! You keep using that word, Madman. I do not think it means what you think it means. There was one and only one tough spot to get by, where I had to winch my way around a big rock with a dropoff down into the waterfall below. Other than that, the rest was easy. Well, not easy. The rocks were very loose and crumbly but overall it was pretty tame and I got right to the bottom of the 120 ft. high waterfall, where I found a grand view of the entire thing. Awesome stuff! (and inconceivable!).
P.S. Do you like my Princess Bride references? There are two more days of it to come!