Which Came First?

This, to us, is one the most beautiful lakes in the Rawah Range. Hands down. But one of the most mysterious. We thought that this would be a great place for a cache. You cant place caches in Wilderness area, so we felt the parking lot to this wonderful location would be appropriate and so that anyone can enjoy it. Even if ya cant make the hike up to it.

In keeping with our historical themed mountain caches, we researched the snot out of this location and believe it or not, we now have more questions than answers. 3 weeks of looking through archives, history books, libraries, USFS, USGS, and several other sources, we are fairly confident, the origin of the name "Blue Lake" is a mystery.... (Its actually green, go figure)

What we did find out led us to a which came first scenario... We were told, the name of the lake, was named after the pass that sits above it. Blue Lake Pass. (not on any maps we could find, but in the registry) It seems like the pass was named after the lake...ie; blue lake pass. The trail was named for the lake, the lake for the pass, and then the bombshell. The pass was named for the lake...... Confused? So were we. All the lakes in the Rawah Range, have been named for those who discovered them, lived by them, or had a wife that needed a lake named for her. But Blue Lake? Nothing. So with that being the facts as they sit, we decided this place needed a cache. Now it has one.

In our research we did find some interesting things about this lake.
It is the deepest lake in the Rawah Range, by more than double at 100 feet deep. Now, USFS thought it may have been a quarry at one point in time, but USGS say no records of that, and no real proof of mining there. If you look at the outlet side of the lake, you will see a natural dam, made up from a massive rock slide that happened MANY years ago. No one has any record of the slide or statistics about it. Just very obvious it happened. USGS, as well as most history sources, agree this lake was due to Glacial Erosion. Now, why is it 100 feet deep? Dunno. The rock slide would have only increased its volume by 30 feet, however the outlet, is still at the same elevation as it has been for years, so nope to that theory.

So with all the unanswered questions and history, were still left with one fact. This lake is absolutely gorgeous and worth the hike to see!
It is covered in snow most of the year (still had 8 feet of snow on the south shore as I type this in June!) But in July and August and September, its snow and ice free.

It can be a fairly aggressive hike. 10.5 miles round trip and close to 11,000 feet in altitude make this one not for the faint of heart. I have included a photo from 1948 from the inlet, and a current pic of the lake the day we placed the cache.

Maybe while hiking to this one, you can ponder which came first here?