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A Colorful Hike to Blossom Lake, Idaho

 

Blossom Lakes are located on the Idaho/ Montana divide, just off the Thompson Pass highway (between Murray, Idaho, and Thompson Falls, Montana).  There’s an Upper and Lower Blossom Lake and we’d heard this was a good place for a day hike (or short backpacking trip).

Blossom Lake 2010 001. Thompson Pass

Blossom Lake 2010 005. Blossom Lake trailhead

Blossom Lake 2010 013. Blossom Lake trail, fall colorsOn a nice fall day four of us — friends Greg and Oscar; wife Sylvia and your humble correspondent — left eastern Washington state for a pleasant drive through the beautiful landscape of the Idaho panhandle.  The road leading to the trail head is paved, of good quality and not very busy, every corner yielding another beautiful vista.  There’s a large parking area at the trail head located around 4850 feet above sea level.

Blossom Lake 2010 006. Blossom Lake trail

The hike to Lower Blossom Lake is a relatively easy 6-mile round trip on a trail of good quality — well maintained and with good footing — gaining almost a thousand feet in altitude.  During the first half mile of the trail, you walk beside a man-made ditch, part of a diversion canal built by Chinese laborers over a century ago to aid with mining, although it was never used.  The hike is mostly through a thick mixed sub-alpine forest of Douglas fir, Sitka spruce, lodgepole pine and western larch (whose needles were changing to a brilliant yellow color at the time of our hike).

Blossom Lake 2010 012. Blossom Lake trail, fall colors larches(larches were being to turn yellow before shedding their needles)

Huckleberry bushes and small shrubs were brilliant in their fall foliage of yellow, orange and red and added to our enjoyment of the hike.

Blossom Lake 2010 008. Blossom Lake trail, fall colors huckleberry bushes

Blossom Lake 2010 009. Blossom Lake trail, fall colors huckleberry bushes

Blossom Lake 2010 015. Blossom Lake trail, fall colors


Blossom Lake 2010 042. Fungi
Many fungi and mushrooms were popping up and a few wildflowers persisted.

Blossom Lake 2010 037. Fungi

Blossom Lake 2010 038. Fungi

Blossom Lake 2010 039. Fungi

Blossom Lake 2010 040. Fungi

Blossom Lake 2010 041. Fungi

While the trail is mostly wooded there are a few clearings offering good vistas of the forested mountains of Western Montana.

Blossom Lake 2010 019. Blossom Lake trail, fall colors

Blossom Lake 2010 032. Blossom Lake trail, fall colors

The best views, however, were upon our arrival at Lower Blossom Lake where we were treated to the sight of a beautiful mountain lake in a cirque whose hills were steep and also decorated in fall colors.  The cirque of Upper Blossom Lake could be seen to the southwest.

Blossom Lake 2010 023. Blossom Lake, fall colors

Blossom Lake 2010 026. Blossom Lake, fall colors

Blossom Lake 2010 029. Blossom Lake, fall colors

For backpackers there are a number of nice level campsites, some with fire-pits, on the northeastern shore of Lower Blossom Lake.  The lake is stocked with trout so fishing is an option.  There’s lots of opportunities for birdwatchers and I’m sure if you were to rest quietly, you’d also see some wildlife.  We enjoyed a snack and took in the view but soon it started to rain so we headed back to the trailhead.

Blossom Lake 2010 034. Blossom Lake trail, fall colors

For the more energetic or those with more time there are options of longer and more scenic hikes available past Lower Blossom Lake.  Pear Lake is small lake another mile up-trail and beyond that lies Glidden Ridge which at 6600 feet offers wonderful panoramic 360-degree vistas.

Blossom Lake 2010 022. Blossom Lake trail, fall colors

Despite being cloudy and drizzly, it was a pleasant day and it’s a hike I’d recommend to all.

Attachments

Images (22)
  • Thompson Pass
  • Blossom Lake trailhead
  • Blossom Lake trail
  • Blossom Lake trail, fall colors huckleberry bushes
  • Blossom Lake trail, fall colors huckleberry bushes
  • Blossom Lake trail, fall colors larches
  • Blossom Lake trail, fall colors
  • Blossom Lake trail, fall colors
  • Blossom Lake trail, fall colors
  • Blossom Lake trail, fall colors
  • Blossom Lake, fall colors
  • Blossom Lake, fall colors
  • Blossom Lake, fall colors
  • Blossom Lake, fall colors
  • Blossom Lake trail, fall colors
  • Blossom Lake trail, fall colors
  • Fungi
  • Fungi
  • Fungi
  • Fungi
  • Fungi
  • Fungi

Twitter: @DrFumblefinger

"We do not take a trip, a trip takes us".  John Steinbeck, from Travels with Charlie

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