🏔️ Michele Lakes & Kink Peak | Long Miles, Gemstone Lakes, and the Highest Point of the GDT скачать в хорошем качестве

🏔️ Michele Lakes & Kink Peak | Long Miles, Gemstone Lakes, and the Highest Point of the GDT

🌲🧭🎒🌊🪨🧗‍♂️⚠️🌼🐐🌌🧠 This solo midsummer push reaches deep into the Cline Range along the Great Divide Trail, linking the luminous Michele Lakes with a committing ascent of Kink Peak (GR154693). At 40 km round-trip, 2,800+ m of elevation gain, and 14.5 hours on the move, it’s a day defined by patience, route-finding, and the quiet resolve required to keep going when the approach refuses to cooperate. The opening act up Owen Creek sets expectations early. Despite being part of the GDT, the “trail” is often a wet, broken track hugging a raging creek—steep banks, loose rubble, and consequences for slips. A brief navigational lapse adds bushwhacking to the mix before the valley finally opens toward Owen Pass, where alpine air, marmot chatter, and big skies reset the mood. Beyond the pass, the terrain turns generous. The approach to Upper and Lower Michele Lake reveals unreal turquoise water framed by Mount Cline and a ring of high peaks. From the south ridge of Michele Lakes Peak, both lakes spread out below in full summer color—an earned moment that anchors the day. Easy scrambling delivers the first summit and wide panoramas across Burwash, Coleman, Minster, White Goat peaks, and beyond. The second act is Kink Peak. Reaching it means leaving the comfort of the GDT for headwalls, goat trails, and a fossil-strewn rubble valley. Route choices matter here: staying under the cliffs—not on top—proves critical, and a timely retreat to correct a line avoids serious trouble. The final slopes are straightforward but long, culminating in a summit with vast views into the White Goat Wilderness and across the Wilson Icefield. The return is honest work. Back over the GDT’s highest point, then down Owen Pass and the same unforgiving creek corridor—steep, loose, and relentless late in the day. Waterfalls soften the grind, but focus is mandatory until the last steps. 🧭 Trip snapshots 📅 July 29, 2025 🕒 ~14.5 hours 📏 40 km total distance ⛰️ 2,800+ m elevation gain = 🧗‍♂️ SC6 scrambling (Class 3; consequences if careless) 🔥 What this journey captures Why “maintained” doesn’t always mean easy The payoff of committing approaches to remote lakes How navigation discipline saves energy—and skin The quiet joy of remote valleys and high cols Why suffering sharpens the beauty between it This isn’t a day for shortcuts or bravado. It’s a deliberate, full-value outing where persistence unlocks rare scenery and perspective. Michele Lakes and Kink Peak don’t give anything away—but they reward those willing to earn every view. 📌 Route details, timing, terrain notes, and written observations available in the original trip report at https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Vp80....