Tell's Peak
Forni Lake

This was another hike that we took with our "Monday Hikers" group. Most of it was along the Highland Trail (until we lost it and got creative). The peak, at 8,855' offers some great views into the Rockbound Valley of Desolation Wilderness and Loon Lake in the distance.

The trailhead begins just past the Van Vleck cabin at the gate on Forest Service Road # 36 (Cheese Camp Road).

The first 4 miles of the trail is easy with a very gentle upward rise, which is always welcome on the return trip.

Once you leave the 'flats', the trail winds it's way upwards to Forni Lake. As you gain a little altitude and can see over the surrounding trees, you start getting views to the west.

At around the 5 mile mark, Forni Lake, with Tells Peak in the background, is a good place to take a breather and have a snack before the last 1 & 1/2 mile hike to the peak.

Having lost any hint of 'the' trail, we decided to work our way up the rim of the bowl to the saddle, rather than go straight up the side. It turned out to be a bit of an adventure, and one of the group turned back (muttering that we were all crazy and would be stuck on the mountain after night fall).

Once we got to the saddle, we had to stop to take in the first views to the east. The back side between Tells and McConnell Peaks drops away rather dramatically to form a cirque with Highland Lake at the bottom.

Wending our way through the large boulders at the top (how'd they get them up there?), we finally achieved our goal.

After having our lunch at the summit, we pulled out a map to orient ourselves and try to name features of the landscape.

After all the photos were taken, we started back down the real trail toward Forni Lake. It turned out to go fairly straight down the side through a lot of sand and gravel. As it turned out, we lost it again and did a little bush whacking to get back to the lake.

Happily, the journey back was all down hill, although it did seam as though someone had added a couple of miles to the trail while weren't looking.

It turned out to be another great adventure, and everyone made it back well before dusk.