Escaping The Nutshell

Started from the Wild Basin Ranger Station at about 10:00. Hiked about 6.5 miles to just before Thunder Lake, then turned left off the trail. There's no landmark where we departed; we just remember the general area where we leave. One can also go all the way to Thunder Lake, then cross the outlet, but that's farther than you need to go. Our GPS malfunctioned on the way there, and the GPS tracks only show the way we went back, with lots of noise mixed in.

The general direction on leaving the trail, was southwest, and after crossing the creek which is the outlet of Thunder Lake, we came upon an unofficial trail that heads towards Box Lake. That trail becomes less distinct as you get nearer to Box Lake, and you want to be sure you don't climb too quickly as you'll end up on a ledge as shown in the video. Box Lake fills the bottom of a cirque, with steep walls around most of it, but it has nice flat boulders on its east side for sitting and soaking up the beauty.

From Box Lake, we continued southwest to Eagle Lake. Eagle is so stunning, there should be a painter with an easel near its outlet, depicting the lake with the background of Eagles Beak, Isolation Peak, Tanima Peak, and the Indigo Pond drainage.

We circled Eagle Lake in a counterclockwise direction, slowly making our way between the krummholz and the water on the north shore. The inlet was easy to cross this time of year. On the south shore we enjoyed watching the waves as seen in the video. The outlet area has the most dramatic views, and was also easy to cross. We then headed back to Box Lake, where we had lunch before returning.

We returned to the Wild Basin Ranger Station at 18:36, for a total trip time of 8 hours, 36 minutes. Elevation difference from low to high was about 2300 feet, and total distance is about 16 miles.

GPS Tracks