SUNRISE, LOWER ROBIN LAKE, CASCADE RANGE, WA (back) (sizes and prices below image)

Sunrise, Lower Robin Lake, Cascade Range, WA

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8" x 12" (14" x 18" paper) ($40)

12" x 18" (18" x 24" paper) ($60)
16" x 24" (22" x 30" paper) ($90)

(photos are printed with a 3" white border)

unrise at Lower Robin Lake, Cascade Range, Washington

This photo is from August 2008, taken as the first rays of sun graced Mt. Rainier (left, background), just behind Cathedral Rock.  On the right, the snow covered range is Mt. Daniels.  Upper and Lower Robin Lakes are located out of Tucquala Meadows, after a 8.1 mile 3,000 foot ascent, at an altitude of about 6,200 feet.  From the saddle above the lake, there are excellent views of Granite Mountain, Mt. Rainier, Glacier Peak, Mt. Baker, and Mt. Adams.  Mountain goats are plentiful and can be seen around the lake every morning and evening (and there are at least 4 in this photo, though not visible at this resolution).

Here are directions to Robin Lakes:  Take E I-90 for 71 miles to the Salmon la Sac – Roslyn exit 80. Drive through Roslyn, then follow SR 903 NW for 19 miles to Salmon la Sac, where the road narrows and becomes a gravel road, continue N on FR 4330 for 12.5 miles, and past the Tucquala Meadows Campground, driving to the end of the road at 3,350’.  Out of the parking area, take the Hyas Lake trail # 1376 NW for 4.4 miles then head NE on trail #1376.1 for 2 miles to Tuck Lake (5,268’).  We camped at Tuck Lake the first night, then continued on another 1.7 miles to Upper Robin Lake (6178’), where we set up camp just off the granite between the two lakes.  From the camp, you can (we did) head N for about a mile up to a saddle at 6,900’. From here, you can cross the saddle, and follow the ridge E and then S to Granite Mountain which has a summit at 7,144’.

From the Tucquala trailhead, the first 2 miles of the hike is nearly level to Hyas Lake. Continuing past Hyas, the trail is mostly level for nearly then next two miles, then ascends about 750 feet to the junction.  From the junction, the trail drops briefly, then climbs steeply for the next two miles, gaining 1,100 feet.  The trail is quite steep in places, and in some places it is rocky with some big “steps” up.  The trail between Tuck and Robin Lakes is tough to find as it works its way around the cliffs by Tuck Lake, and after leaving Tuck Lake, the trail climbs fast, gaining about 900 feed in 1.7 miles.  The climb ends in a long walk up a large exposed granite slab, marked with cairns.

Canon 40D, Canon 17-40mm f/4.0 L lens at 19mm and f/8.0, Exposure 0.3 sec., Singh-Ray 2-stop ND (hard) filter