Lake of the Angels (4,888') is located 3.6 miles from Hamma Hamma Road in Olympic National Park. It lies in a spacious alpine basin below Mount Stone at the head of Whitehorse Creek. This strenuous trail climbs 3,353' through rough and varied terrain to the lake, where unmaintained routes continue on to Mount Stone and Hagen Lake.

The Putvin Trail is named after Carl Putvin, a local hunter and trapper who died in January 1913 while attempting to resupply his family cabin

Mountain goats live in loose family groups of several adult females with their kids and yearlings; adult males may be tolerated in the summer when food is plentiful, and during the autumn mating season

A final steep push from the Olympic National Park Boundary levels off though the 'Valley of Heaven' to Lake of the Angels

Whitehorse Creek is a tributary of the Hamma Hamma River, which forms at Lower Mildred Lake and flows east into the Hood Canal

Yeah it's steep! One section of the Putvin Trail climbs over 2190' in just 1.8 miles!

Travel moderates through oft-muddy, swale-like meadows with intermittent clarity

Social trails fan out through the LOTA basin, with specific routes leading to Mount Stone and beyond to Hagen Lake

The challenging cross-country route to Hagen Lake wraps around the west and north side of Mount Stone (6,612')

Though goats are a veritable fixture at the lake, bear, elk and marmot are also potential visitors (this one was filmed on the flank of Mount Stone)

The lake itself is fairly small, but the basin is broad with relatively few obstacles and useful social trails that assist exploration

Mountain goats are a familiar sight at Lake of the Angels; backpackers should be careful to keep salty foods, sweaty clothes and urine far away from the tent

High peaks in the 13,015' acre Mt Skokomish Wilderness include Mt Stone (6,612'), Mt Skokomish (6,434'), Mt Henderson (6,000'), Mt Pershing (6,154') and Mt Washington (6,255')'

Whitehorse Creek begins at Lake of the Angels and forms an impressive waterfall that becomes visible at 2.2 miles

Mountain goats have two layers of hair; the bottom wool layer provides an insulating layer for warmth, and the top layer is comprised of long, thick guard hairs

The route to Hagen Lake makes a precarious descent into an adjacent basin, then clears another pass to the isolated lake

Roosevelt Elk are the largest elk species in North America, with females reaching 600 lbs and mature bulls nearing 1000 lbs