A bit dramatic, but not inaccurate.

On the way back from Lake of Glass (see the email I sent the other day), I went off trail to try and get a better picture of The Loch once I made it to the Vale. Being too clever by half, I did not retrace my steps right back to the trail, but instead went on, figuring I would intersect the trail and all would be well.

This proved not to be the case. I went further and further off trail, walking through the forest, and not sure at all where I was or even what direction I was headed.

Finally I climbed a rather imposing slope to an outcrop to get my bearings. I figured I would see the Loch nearby, reorient myself and get myself unlost.

What I saw when I got to the top of the knob was this:

You can see the Loch, where I was when I started going off trail as that tiny dark patch at about the middle of the photo. I had somehow, someway gotten way out south, thinking I was really east of the lake the entire time.

Later, now, I figure I had managed to get onto the hill in this map marked “glacier” (its actually cut off and should be “Glacier knob”. I didn’t know that at the time.

So I headed straight down in the direction of the Loch, figuring I HAD to hit the lake, or the trail, first. Halfway down the knob, I saw people walking on the trail, and I managed to scramble my way to known territory again.