Old Man Lake Hike

From Old Man Lake HIke

Today I hiked with Ranger Amy again up to Old Man Lake. There were only three of us in the group. It was a beautiful hike with lots of wildflowers. Today there wasn't fresh bear scat on the trail but we were vigilant anyway. However, the only wildlife we saw were hares, birds, squirrels and chipmunks. I saw a brilliantly colored (orange under the wings) bird that I later learned was called a flicker. We also saw nests or colonies of small caterpillar. They were pretty interesting. We crossed numerous streams - some with bridges and others without. There were a number of waterfalls along the way. The last mile or so was in the snow which was not easy walking. There was some post holing (when your foot sinks deeply into the snow) and slipping and sliding. I wore my YakTrax but they weren't much help in the deeper snow. On a side note I loaned them to a guy yesterday. He broke them. That is a bummer. I think they will still kind of work but they are definitely damaged. Since they were worn only two times I am thinking of returning them to REI. The lake was still partially frozen and the area was very beautiful so I didn't dwell much on my broken YakTrax.

See the full size photos here or view the slide show below