Although he was so thin that he required a pillow on his saddle, Moran quickly adapted to the rigors of the trail. In a journal entry dated 11 July he wrote:

Passed over debris of a great land slide, where the whole face of the mountain had fallen down at some time, laying bare a great cliff some 500 feet high. The view of the lake, as we approached it, was very beautiful.... The Mountains surrounding it are about 11,000 feet high... having snow still upon them.... After descending to the shore of the lake, some of the party fished in it & caught a few of the finest trout that I have ever seen. After a rest...all the party started back for camp excepting Jackson, Dixon & myself, we having concluded to remain over until the next day for the purpose of photographing & sketching in the vicinity. Made a large fire & cooked our supper of black tailed deer meat.... During the night it rained a little but not enough to wet us to any extent. Got up early enough in the morning to get our breakfast, & commence photographing as soon as the sun rose.