The Benson Lake Loop

Sawtooth Ridge is at center, and Matterhorn Peak is right of center. A typical section of trail, not exactly maintained looking.

Upper Matterhorn Canyon

The Benson Lake Loop, August 2002

This sort of hiking is just pure joy. After the steep section, the trail settled down to a sloping path, which allowed me to enjoy the views of the massive mountain architecture around me. The view down canyon remained excellent almost the entire time, with the meadow alluring so far down the canyon below the immense walls. The trail tended to stay up on the canyon slopes whenever possible, but it was mostly on gently sloping terrain of the giant "U" shaped canyon. To my left was a flattened glacial "step" of meadow flats just before the highest tree survivors of tree line.

As I reached treeline, this was my view down Matterhorn Canyon.

I love tree line country, as you must know by now. It always reminds me of a well-manicured Japanese garden with giant bonsai trees contorted into exotic shapes, often frozen in poses of trees wracked by a stormy wind. Lower down where the trees are larger, you can often find trees that looked like they have been twisted like someone wringing a washcloth. The windward side of these trees often loose all their branches, and the hardier branches on the sides act like a weather vein and literally twist the tree around over time. Higher up where I was, the surviving Lodgepoles become mere bushes and the Whitebark pines take on bizarre shapes.