Surprise Lake

This hike started harmlessly enough. We had been planning this one for some time and were fully equipped and headed out at about 9am. I know, a little late for the avid hiker, but you try to get Him out of bed before 7am.
We start at the trailhead and have a good pace going. About 0.7miles in, Vince sees a black bear. About 200# and 100 yards away, we were able to grab the dogs and get the gun. But no need, he ran off through the brush as gracefully as though he were skipping through a grassy meadow.
We continued up and met a man coming down at about mile 2. He noted there were no other hikers, we shared our bear story, and he passed by. We soon hit snow, and traversing through it was difficult. We lost the footprint trail a few times but were able to get to the switchbacks. Oh those tedious switchbacks. A little bit of those and we hit snow again. I almost missed the switchbacks, but stomping through 4 foot snowbanks held my attention.

After we get to the river that runs parallel to the East side of the lake and find the map. Just before the trail crosses the river, there is a breakoff of the PCT that continues NE. At that point, I started eating some homemade dehydrated fruit, and some local winged friends joined us for some apple slices.
 We weren't able to find the river crossing, but [dangerously] chose to attempt crossing over the snow. The risk was hitting a hollow snow cave, and a girl recently died from attempting a late-season snow crossing. It took alot of convincing, but finally, He agreed to try. We ended up finding more footprints and followed those to the lake.
 Mostly frozen over,  but always beautiful. The birds joined us again for ham sandwiches and snacks. One even took from my hands a few times. The attempt at drying our shoes and socks was mostly unsuccessful and I hate wet socks. So the usual half-hour break turned into an hour, in which we watched the dogs get teased by the birds. Our half-assed GPS got us down the mountain, but not after passing about 10 people on the way up. Maybe we're just slow, but it was 5pm, and they were halfway up. Even Granny was going strong, if not a little behind the Fam.
 Drive home uneventful. BLT's for dinner. Plan on return to Surprise in the late summer.