I had my eyes on Caroline Peak. But I couldn’t find much information on it. So we stopped short of the cliffs above Upper Wildcat Lake of Wildcat Lakes. And then we turned around.
See more trip photos here.
Wildcat Lakes at a Glance
Wildcat Lakes = Upper Wildcat Lake + Lower Wildcat Lake
Access: Snow Lake Trailhead
Round Trip: 13 miles
Elevation Range: 3120′-5145′
Gear: snowshoes, ice ax
GPS Track: available
Dog-Friendly: on the trail
Through Snow Lake Basin
Snow conditions were excellent. So reaching Gem Lake byway of Snow Lake was a breeze. There was still lots of snow below Wright Mountain. So we couldn’t make use of the summer trail to go around the northern lakeshore.
That meant we also couldn’t go around the west side of the mountain. So instead, we crossed Gem Lake’s outlet and dropped down the broad gully. It was between the lake and Mount Roosevelt‘s northeast ridgeline.
See more trip photos here.
En Route to Wildcat Lakes
The amount of snow decreased as we slowly made our way down to the Wildcat Lakes Basin. Later we stopped to check out the lower lake. From there, it was only another 300′ to reach the upper pond.
Soon, we were up by the frozen Upper Wildcat Lake. Then we used the route descriptions and climbed up the steep, forested ridge to the east. We first went through Point 4842. But then cornices and cliffs stopped us at our tracks.
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Outro
Bypassing Point 5315 didn’t look feasible for us. So we left after a long break between the two high points. Too bad we couldn’t continue in this gorgeous weather. But we will back for Caroline Peak another time!
Later we made a quick stop by the lower lake. Then we followed our route to go back up to Gem Lake. From there, it was a long way back to the car through Snow Lake Basin.
See more trip photos here.