ptarmigan ridge and the galena chain lakes

we tried a new trail at ptarmigan ridge leading to the galena chain lakes, the sun never came out on saturday leaving us with limited views of scenery and very close looks at clouds. this is an area where wide angle lenses and stunning landscape shots would be the norm, but with lack of long and medium distance visibility we were able to actually notice the smaller details of the mountain side, like water droplets on a lupine or a small pika that came out to whistle at our trespassing. the fishing was great, but not epic. the fish were scrappy but not large, however brilliantly colored. and the mountains left me wanting more as usual, on the way out through the fog i spotted the areas namesake. ptarmigans fed along the shale as what passed for dusk set in. as stated before the lack of visibility and new micro environment of alpine meadows and tarns left me the impression i was hiking on some distant planet, or tollkien-esque landscape.