Backpaking in Rainbow Basin

All year we have been waiting for our backpacking trip to Rainbow Basin. Matt and I left Thursday morning and drove to the trail head at Trinity Lakes. We met our friends Jared and Lori at the trail. The four of us started off on our four mile journey to Big Rainbow Lake. The weather was perfect as we climbed the first mile to the ridge. The next 3 miles are an easy stroll through the woods. There are 8 lakes in a 2 mile stretch in the basin. Matt enjoyed finding a few geocaches along the way. We arrived at Big Rainbow Lake and set up camp near the lake. We grabbed a bite to eat then headed to Little Rainbow Lake to go fishing. We had fun catching the little brook trout.

Friday: We woke up pretty early and went to check out the view and wildflowers near our camp. Our friends woke up around 9:00, they were either wore out or enjoying some sleep away from their kids. We ate breakfast then head cross country to Hideaway Lake. It was really steep and we had to cross a LARGE rock slide. This is where I learned I am very, very afraid of crossing rocks. We eventually made it to beautiful Hideaway Lake. While at the lake we enjoyed catching fish and eating our backpacker's pizza. I even took a nap, who knew I could sleep so well on a log. There was still lots of snow around the lake so Matt and I took the chance to make snow angels in July. From there we went to Middle Rainbow Lake to take a short break and enjoy the scenery. We went back to camp to eat some food and enjoy some fishing before we retired for the night.

Saturday: We woke up early, ate breakfast and packed up camp. On our way out of the basin we stopped a Big Lookout Lake. The were some large trout that enjoyed taunting me and getting my hopes up of a big catch. I can say I am a true fisherman now because I had a big one on the line but he got away. From there we tackled the steep journey on our way back to the car. We had a great time getting to know our friends Jared and Lori and enjoyed Rainbow Basin for a second time.