Days 2 and 3 of our Indian Peaks trip – Pawnee Lake.
After our hike over Pawnee Pass, it’s nice to have 2 days to just chill at Pawnee Lake.
We had originally planned this trip around Crater Lake, but due to its popularity we couldn’t get a USFS backcountry camping permit at Crater and now that we know the difference – we’re happier that we didn’t get one. Instead of one night at Pawnee, pull up stakes and do a night at Crater, we got 2 nights at Pawnee – and the entire basin all to ourselves with no other campers! That definitely beats crowding in with 13 other campsites around Crater Lake just to get the sunset and sunrise photos of Lone Eagle Peak.
Plus – it’s sooooo nice to drop your heavy pack and setup camp, knowing that you don’t have to break camp the following morning.
We spend the days relaxing and exploring the area around the lake, and the nights waking up after dark for Milky Way and Perseid meteor shower photos. Next we’ll pack up camp and stop at Mirror Lake and Crater Lake on our way down to the Cascade Creek area for our final night of camping.

Dinnertime

It’s dinnertime on the lake!

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Perfect Mirror

A perfect mirror on the surface of Pawnee Lake.

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Crystal Clear

The completely clear water in Pawnee Lake is typical of glacier lakes.

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The Huddle

It gets chilly in the mountains!

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Long Exposure

Playing with a long exposure at Pawnee Lake.

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In The Pines

Our campsite nestled in the pines on the north end of the lake.

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