After returning from Liberty Pass to my car, I took a few minutes to eat a PBH sandwich and cool off my feet. Then I put on fresh socks and sneakers, loaded a few items in my daypack and headed up the Island Lake Trail around 11:25 under a perfect, clear sky. It was getting pretty warm, and the trail is very exposed to the sun, but I took along plenty of water, and put my handkerchief under my hat to shade my neck, which seemed to help. 

The trail went up the west side of U-shaped Lamoille Canyon, and gained altitude deceptively fast for such a moderate grade. A few sections of thick, short aspen gave way to a riot of wildflowers: purple delphinium, yellow sunflower, white wild celery, red Indian paintbrush, pink ?, etc. etc. It was extremely lush, and I suspect there must be underground water movement to account for so much vegetation on what appears to be a dry mountainside.  In the still, warm air, the sound of cars below on the highway was very noticeable. It’s amazing how much noise a car makes just driving. That’s about the only downside I recall from this trail, however, as the views were spectacular, and got better with each step upward. I particularly enjoyed watching Verdi Peak, across the canyon. Talk about a rugged mountain. I had considered hiking up to the summit, but reconsidered when I saw how steep the climb from the canyon really is. 

After 40 minutes, I reached a bridge over the Island Lake outlet creek, far below the lake. The wood timbers smelled of creosote in the hot sun. A little farther on, I encountered the first shade on the trail, thrown by a few very large limber pines. I stopped and drank water, cooled off a couple of minutes, then plunged ahead, up the trail. I stopped frequently to snap photographs of the amazing wildflower display. 

At around 12:20 I reached the lake, and immediately found a shady spot on the south end to stop and take off my shoes and socks and rest a bit. It was pretty darn hot out. Several other hikers lounged about on the rocks and under the trees around the lake. A boy and his dad fished, but didn’t pull anything while I was there. I examined the cliffs above the lake and it looked quite doable to hike on higher. If it were earlier in the day, and cooler, I might have attempted it, but as it was, I felt content to sit in the shade. After cooling down to normal, and chugging down a good amount of water, I put on my shoes and headed down. The hike back took just under an hour.