Alta Peak and Tableland 2008

One of the highlights today was a very friendly marmot near the first lake that we passed after leaving Moose Lake.  It was such a remote area, we were pretty sure it was not visited very often, but this marmot was a little too friendly.  We first saw him (or her) when approaching the lake where I got a few pictures.  He then followed us down to the lake where we were taking a break, and I got a few more pictures.  I hope he didn’t get that way by being fed by other people.  He certainly didn’t get any food from us.

Journal Entry:  Cold night—frost and dew in the morning, spent some time drying out.  Looks like the humidity has left us—only a few small clouds today.  Made our way from Moose Lake north to an overlook of Table Meadows.  Awesome view!  Looking forward to walking through Table Meadows in a few days.  We then headed for Pterodactyl Pass, around lakes and gullies, trying not to lose too much elevation.  View from the pass was missing Lonely Lake and the viewpoint we were headed for.  Had to descend around the bend for that.  Went up to the low point for a view of Big Bird Lake and Deadman Canyon.  We could see as far as the Palisades!  Easy traverse over the Lonely Lake where we are camped.  A very friendly marmot posed for pictures at one of the high lakes above Buck Canyon!