Sapphire Lake
While backpacking the Trinity Alps, for our second night on the trail we had our sights set on camping at Sapphire Lake, a beautiful lake nestled beneath a box canyon at the end of the trail. Our initial plan was to stay at Sapphire for 2 nights, giving us a full day to rest, relax and explore the local area a bit, but we became intrigued by a nearby lake, Emerald Lake, and changed our plans to stay one night at each. The trail to Sapphire Lake passes by Emerald Lake, so we decided to scout out our options on the way through, and if there was a site we loved, to just stop there for the night and visit Sapphire the following day. Upon arrival it was clear that it was a gorgeous little lake, but it was a really warm day and the very few shaded campsites were already occupied. The thought of us and our camp baking in the direct summer sun for hours wasn’t appealing, so we continued on to Sapphire Lake, hoping for better luck. At Sapphire we did get very lucky, in one sense, and unlucky in another—lucky in that we practically had the place to ourselves—unlucky, in that there was even less shade at this lake. But, we were tired from the trail, and only had a few hours before the intense sun would start to sink lower in the sky, so we set up camp, cooled off in the lake, took advantage of the tiny sliver of shade that the lone tree provided and enjoyed a really beautiful night watching the sun set and millions of stars emerge.
“Stay committed to your decisions, but stay flexible in your approach. It’s the end you’re after.”
-Tony Robbins
