Blossom Lakes, Wallace, Idaho
Blossom Lakes once tried to kill me. Dramatic, huh?
It began with the forecast saying the high would be 60 degrees and the night would be 40 degrees with clear skies. We planned to arrive at the trailhead an hour before sunset with Thing 4, hike up to set up our camp, and have a friend join us after dark.
Most of that happened. Thing 4 and I got to the trailhead earlier than planned, and I had left something in the car, so I intended on doing the hike twice. No problem, right? Thing 4 said he’d set up the tents and get the fire going while I retrieved my items left behind. Exactly when I reached the trailhead, nature changed its mind. Dark clouds took over the pristine sky, and the temperature dropped drastically. My kid was on the top of a mountain where I knew it would be much worse. As I begin climbing up again, I hear a low growl. I stop. It stops. I begin again. It begins again. Sigh. I know it’s a wild cat. I would much rather have an interaction with a moose or bear. Cats are less predictable, and because of that, I prefer the domesticated version. But here I am. Of course, I make the scene worse by taking a wrong turn. That can only happen on the trail to Blossom Lakes through being an idiot. But here I am. I ended up completely in the dark, off-trail, making my best guess that I would be more successful climbing down to find the road, walking the road to get to the trailhead, and starting all over again. So, I did. It was wildly ridiculous. By the time I was back on the trail to begin again, it was well past dark and snowing at the base of the mountain, so I knew Thing 4 was dealing with worse elements at the top. To make my disorientation more, this location is on the Idaho-Montana border, which is a time zone border, so my watch was changing time, and I was losing track of how much time I was consuming with my stupidity. I returned to a bundled-up and sleeping 13-year-old in 20-degree weather which was the best thing I had ever seen. Shortly afterward, I heard my name being carried by the wind, and our friend had survived the struggle through the storm. Memories made.
Blossom Lakes, in the Lolo National Forest, is hike 25 in 100 Hikes in the Inland Northwest: Trail 522 contours south for about 0.5 mile before making a camel-hump climb up the broad ridge and descending toward the lake. The forest consists of small, subalpine timber, mainly hemlock with some white pine, whitebark pine, lodgepole pine, Sitka spruce, Douglas fir, western larch, and alpine fir. The trees are small and thick, so views are scarce. After climbing most of the trek’s 950-foot gain in two gradual steps, this remarkably straight trail curves around to a view, about 0.2 mile short of the lake. Standing on a glacier-carved bedrock, you can look out toward the northeast and the heavily forested ridges of Driveway Peak. The trail soon begins to contour above a creek set in a narrow, precipitous, rocky gorge only a short way from Lower Blossom Lake.
The views and recreation at Lower Blossom are a satisfying reward for the short and somewhat steep climb up (6 miles round-trip, 1,200’eg), but for more adventure, maybe go off-trail a bit and find Upper Blossom. Depending on when you go, you may find unofficial paths to Upper Blossom Lake that have not grown over yet from those before you. If you follow the map in 100 Hikes in the Inland Northwest, you could make a pretty epic trip by adding Pear Lake to your adventure before heading back to the Blossom Lakes trailhead. I attempted to find Pear Lake while everything was under the snow, and although it was a really fun adventure, I had no luck. Hiking a Loop Trail in Two States and getting to Blossom Lakes, Pear Lake, and Revett Lake will be my next excursion in that area.