After a nice night at Summit Lake we awoke to clear skies and started off along Windy Ridge to Lower Blossom Lake. The trail was relatively level with only a few short uphill sections. We hiked through a beautiful forest of western white pine and red fir dotted with meadows. At Windy Gap we admired the view looking down the Kern Canyon. We also ran into the three guys with the dog again and they were headed back towards Maggie Lakes. We then stopped for lunch near Green Meadow at a small creek where we filtered water. The wildflowers there were phenomenal - we saw lupine, paintbrush, leopard lilies, ranger's buttons, larkspur, buttercup, cinquefoil, Richardson's geranium, and others.
After lunch we continued hiking along the ridge and began to hear thunder and see dark clouds building. We hiked along cautiously watching the clouds. Fortunately they never came overhead so we made it to Blossom Lakes without seeing any lightning or rain.
At Lower Blossom Lake we found a great campsite near the east shore. I took a swim out to a granite rock island and then rested and sunned on a rock on the shoreline. That evening Candace made another great meal, cheese tortellini with sundried tomatoes and pine nuts.
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