Hike to Flower Springs Lake

Hi Blog!

On Tuesday, May 28, 2019, we set out to hike the Flower Springs Lake Trail. We had heard about this hike from the woman at Testa River Lodge who makes "the best cinnamon buns in the galactic cluster." She said it was the prettiest hike in the area. Before hitting the trail, we fueled our hike by having one of those cinnamon buns for breakfast and they truly are the best cinnamon buns in the galactic cluster!

To reach the Flower Springs Lake Trail, we had to hike up to the ridge and follow the gravel road toward the cell tower. The trailhead for Flower Springs Lake would be off to our left. As we left camp, we found the trail to the ridge. However, we quickly lost the trail in a maze of animal trails. Apparently, Summit Lake is a favorite stop for the local wildlife.

Before getting lost, we did get a great view down onto our campground.

We soon gave up trying to find the actual hiking trail. We just pointed the GPS to the gravel road and bushwhacked our way through the brush following several different animal trails. It didn't take us long to reach the road.

As we made our way up the road, which leads to a cell tower, we found the other end of the Ridge Trail and rejoined it as it continued up the road. When we reached the trailhead to Flower Springs Lake further along the road, we took a break and congratulated ourselves on being found!

As we rested and rehydrated, we met another couple, Rob and Debbie from Maine. They didn't get lost and told us the trail followed along the lakeshore before turning up to the ridge. We apparently took a wrong turn as our trail never went along the lake. Here, Rob and Debbie head out ahead of us.

From the ridge road, we descended into an alpine valley. Rock cairns marked the way. Below, Kathy takes a moment to pose with her favorite one of them.

Summit Lake is the highest point on the Alaska Highway. There's still snow up here. In order to get this photo, Kathy made Dave climb down and stand in the middle of the snow pile.

Dave got his revenge, when the trail had to cross a snow pile and it was Kathy's turn to pose.

There were mountains to the right of us, mountains to the left of us, mountains in front of us and mountains behind us.

We were so busy looking at all the mountains, we didn't even notice these stone sheep as we walked by. We had to borrow this photo from Rob to show them to you.

We hiked up and down numerous rolling hills as we worked our way toward the lake. As we reached the top of the last hill, we could finally see Flowers Spring Lake. It was still frozen solid! Several waterfalls were cascading down the rocky cliffs from the snowfields above. Our friends Rob and Debbie had a front row seat.

We joined them and all of us enjoyed our picnic lunch surrounded by Rocky Mountain sentinels. While Rob and Debbie headed back, we took some more time to take some pictures of the lake, the mountains and the wildflowers.

As we began our journey back, we could see our trail meandering up and down.

The hike back was faster for two reasons. First, it was mostly downhill and, second, there are always more photos on the way up than the way back. Here’s Kathy at the other end of the Ridge Trail. We are about to hike that portion of the trail we missed on the way up.

We quickly descended into a spruce forest. The trail led us to an old kettle lake. Our GPS still showed it as being an actual lake. However, once we crossed the bottom we realized that the map data must be out of date. It was dry even after all the recent rains.

Once down in the forest, we left the cool breeze behind. As we reached the shore of Summit Lake, Kathy decided a good head soak was in order. Dipping your head in icy cold lake water adds new meaning to the word “brain freeze.”

The remainder of our hike was along the lakeshore. The trail was extremely hard on our legs. We were constantly climbing over rocks and roots. There were washed out sections and deep ruts to negotiate. However, the views were spectacular.

At one point along the lakeshore, a small stream cascaded down a rocky hill. All that moisture encouraged lots of colored moss to grow, creating an orange carpet up the hill.

Having completed the trail in reverse, we decided we were actually lucky to have gotten lost in the beginning. If we had done the full trail, we might have found ourselves too tuckered out to do another hike during our stay. Sometimes, it’s better to be lucky than smart!