Unfortunately a wind storm visited the area before we did.
It was still beautiful (and much more chilly than we expected) but the trail situation was not good.
After meandering through the campground (where most of these shots were taken from) and trying to find the trail head, Otis the brown dog ran ahead and met a new friend along with two ATV'rs, including the camp host. He explained that due to the recent windstorm there were several "widow-makers" or trees/branches partially downed that could fall on hikers and campers. Needless to say, the rangers had closed the campgrounds and all the trails. Yowza. He directed us to a trail to Beauty Lake that was semi clear.....
Well, we never made it to Beauty Lake. This photo is a peak-a-boo shot of Dark Lake which we spied along the trail. After running into about 3 downed trees in 15 minutes, we turned back towards the campground deciding it would be better to try a trail below Wright's Lake that we spotted on the way in. You know, instead of meeting our end with a widow-maker.
We ran into some snow, which the dogs liked....
These dogs cracks me up.
Crunchy looks like an angry lion and Otis looks like....well he looks like typical Otis.
While these two numskulls messed around in the snow, we chatted with our friend the camp host for awhile longer.
And I noticed some wind storm damage....just some *minor* asphalt lifting and cracking from a tree being blown over.
Attempting to avoid those widow-makers was probably a good idea.
So, after driving around for far too long, we found ourselves back at South Fork Silver Creek.
Here we hiked up the very wet trail for awhile while Otis made more friends and we spotted foliage and flowers.
And moss....
And rock stacks......
And then our trail was suddenly covered in a couple feet of snow so we decided it was time to go on home.
So that is the tale of our Mother's Day Hike.
To next year and whatever adventures it may bring!
♥TCW
