It’s not like the mountain lakes closer to home, with trampled alpine flowers, paths muddy up to the water line, stray orange peels, and other human debris. It’s clear and quiet and calm, the wind barely marking the surface. The diminutive yellow and white and red flowers spread like a carpet to the shore. I can remember some of their names: Indian paintbrush, maybe that’s a columbine, that one looks like an alpine rose. My legs ache as we sit to eat lunch under the branches of a tree that in the winter bears the weight of a thousand pounds of snow. The hike was advertised as 5 miles, but it is really closer to 7 and a half. We are only halfway done.

这不像离家更近的高山湖泊，践踏着高山花朵，到水线的泥泞道路，流浪的橘子皮和其他人类残骸。晴朗，宁静，从容，风几乎没有在表面上留下痕迹。黄色，白色和红色的小花像地毯一样铺开到岸上。我记得他们的一些名字：印度画笔，也许是哥伦拜恩，看起来像高山玫瑰。当我们坐在树下的树枝上吃午餐时，我的腿酸了。冬天，这棵树承受着一千磅的雪。远足广告标为5英里，但实际上接近7英里半。我们只完成了一半。