Today we hiked up to Lake Mary, over Mary Pass, and down to Upper Florence Lake. Lake Mary was charming; sunny and grassy, clear and very cold. Trail and camp signs showed this was a very popular lake but we were alone. We took an extended rest here. Cynthia puttered around while I stalked trout in 12 inch deep water at one end of the lake. They're always beautiful. I managed to get a few pictures but even from eight feet you need a telephoto to really do them any justice.

On the way up we came across plants that must have been the inspiration for Dr. Seuss's truffula trees in The Lorax. We also met a few very fat marmots, doing what fat marmots always seem to do (just hang out). We broke out of the trees to awesome views of coniferous and granite mountainsides stained red from the autumn colors of the brush. Upper Florence Lake would be a spectacular, if exposed, campsite and we hoped the good weather would hold.