Alpine Adventure #7 – South Powell Divide by Tom Koleszar 10 August 2024

For the first time since our first Alpine Trip in 2017, we had fantastic weather on the scheduled field trip day (August 10) – the skies were clear, the day was warm, and it turned out to be a beautiful day for a field trip! We landed on a small plateau on the South Powell Divide, not too far from Emma Lake. There were meadows, ponds, and 3 small lakes in the area, and views of the South Powell Divide ridge behind us and across the Eldred Valley to all the peaks above Powell Lake.

A quiet early morning pond
Part of our plateau with a view of Slide Mtn
A typical landscape of rocks, low shrubs, and a few trees

After everyone was assembled at our destination, we spent more than an hour before lunch touring around the plateau and learning about the plants, geology, and the alpine environment in general. The area was mostly open with rocks, grasses, and shrubs, and interspersed with small patches of sub-alpine forest. We had no wildlife visitors this year, other than bumblebees, dragonflies and a few other less desirable insects. The geology of the area was primarily the granitic plutons common to this region – that is, we had no shortage of large granitic boulders and outcrops!

Some plants were already thinking about Fall
But there were still some flowers, too

After an enjoyable lunch in the sunshine, we had a couple of hours of free time to explore. Some explored near the landing area, while others hiked around the edges of the plateau. As it was a warm afternoon, all three lakes were used for swimming depending on how warm the swimmers wanted their water and how far they wanted to hike to get there. It was a great day, and I think everyone had a wonderful time.

The 1st lake – relatively shallow and warm
The 2nd lake – bigger, deeper, and cooler!
The 3rd lake – only the adventurous got this far
The view across Emma Lake to Mt Alfred
Enjoying the view across the Eldred Valley

Thanks again to our drivers who got everyone to the staging area safely and to Cal Smith for handling all the trip registration and communications, and especially to Matt, our Oceanview Helicopters pilot, who got everyone on and off the mountain safely.

The whole group – and everyone is smiling!

 

The journey home begins.