You've finally arrived! The view of Gunsight Lake and the Continental Divide is spectacular. Lots of streams and waterfalls are coming down from the surrounding valley walls. You can see a small ice field just to the right (northwest) of Gunsight Pass. The faint line cutting high along the valley wall to the left of the lake is more of the Gunsight Lake trail.
There are designated tent sites, which are removed from the cooking area. Absolutely no food items are allowed in the tent area! Poles are provided for hanging your food bag - grizzly bears are a potential problem in the back country. More immediately, and not a problem in the same way as bears, are the mountain goats. They would find a nice sweaty (i.e. salty) shirt hanging out to dry quite tasty!
After setting up camp, you go down to the lake to pump water. The mountain goats are unafraid and follow you hoping for some food scraps or something salty.

Now that you have some water and are feeling refreshed, it's time to explore the area.

First, take a look at the 1;24,000 topographic map of the Gunsight Lake area. You will need this map for both of the activities below, so keep this new window open until you have finished both activities.

The topographic map shows a patrol cabin northeast of Gunsight Lake. You don't recall seeing the cabin as you hiked in, so off you go to find the cabin.

There are some classic alpine glacial landforms in this area. Take a closer look and see what types of landforms are here.

When you are finished with these two activities, you should close any extra windows you have open before moving on.

Created February 26, 1999 by Karen A. Lemke (klemke@uwsp.edu). Last updated March 10, 1999 by KAL.
The URL for this page is http:/www.uwsp.edu/geo/faculty/lemke/gnp_vft/stops/stop1.html