Monday, August 19, 2013

Sand Lake (8ish miles)

Bet you thought I'd let Facebook kill my blogs, didn't you? Well, I haven't, but I must admit that it has put a dent in them what with its ease of posting pics and such. That's only one excuse for why this particular blog hasn't seen activity since October. The others are that for most of this year's hiking season I was training for an off-road sprint triathlon while also starting school to become a Surgical Technologist, hence eliminating any hiking time there may have been. With the tri completed (yay, me!) we were able to finally get our boots back out in the dust.

The hike, which is part of the Pacific Crest Trail, began at Leach Lake (NOT leech.) It was breezy, obviously sunny, and the perfect temperature for hiking.

So let's go!

There were still a few blueberries to be had along the way.

Lots of pretty meadows, too.

This was the Forest Pig's first hike in a long time. She was thirsty.

What I thought were interesting trees. Are they still considered trees?

Three miles in, and here is our original destination, Sand Lake. You can see a tent along the shore, and this whole hike had a lot of good places for camping for those so inclined.

 We decided to keep going for a while longer before we had our lunch.

There were still some nice views to be viewed, such as this one of Rimrock Lake far in the distance.

And lots of little "lakes" like this one. This, and even Sand Lake, aren't lakes in the sense that they're not spring- or tributary-fed, but are "basin" lakes that fill up from rain and snow melt.

Give me my lunch or I'm not going any further! Forest Pigs are bossy.

After a lunch of ham and cheese sandwiches and Milk Bones, we headed back the way from which we'd come, taking a short spur to view Deer Lake. It was the best one. "Deer Lake, I am writing to let you know you're the best one. Love, J."

Squee!!! Back at Leach Lake (NOT leech!) me and the FP waited while The Big Guy went to commune with nature. I thought there were water bugs skittering around, but then saw they were teeny-weeny frog babies everywhere. Still with tails!

Any hike during which I can see baby anything is a good day.