Follow Up Friday: Waterdog Lake

Follow Up Friday:  Waterdog Lake Hike


Yay! We made it.

Wednesday's hike was MUCH more successful than Sunday's attempt at a hike.

We were prepared.
We had a map. A walking stick with bells. Whistles to call to each other. Snacks. Lots of water.

We found the Trailhead!

This hike was described as "moderate" on one map and "easy" on a website. We were also told it was 1.4 miles to the first lake.

 Please note this is UPHILL.

 Still UPHILL.

 You might think I am posing for a photo but really I am catching my breath.

And still UPHILL.

After an hour and a half of huffing and puffing  hiking we made it to the top.

 Proof- that's the marker for the first lake.

O Man! It was worth it. 

Aren't you impressed? 

I learned how to use my Panoramic mode on my phone.

And...the pedometer showed we had walked 1.9 miles. We must have wobbled a lot; not walked in a straight line. 

We sat and talked and snacked and DRANK lots of water. 

Then we wandered about half way around the lake. 

We did not head up to the second lake as I was not about to go UPHILL one more step.

But apparently we would have been able to see the Continental Divide if we had.

We started at 8600 feet altitude and ended at 11,100.  High enough for me. 

After some scenic photos, we headed back down.

 Me, gasping for air.

 Me and Sue, holding on to each other for support  smiling for the camera.

 Pretty flowers against the CLEAN CLEAR water.

 Some more pretty flowers.

Gorgeous scenery everywhere. 

Downhill took us about 40 minutes. We had to watch our footing or else go sliding down.

All in all we hiked 3.8 miles. 

I came home and took some Advil.

It was a great day. 

Take a Hike

Take a Hike: What's the Difference between a Hike and a Walk?


I've often wondered what the difference is between a hike and a walk and so I looked it up.

Guess what?

No definitive answer.  The best I can find is hiking is not done on pavement. Walking is.

That means when I've been taking Carlos for our morning walks we are really hiking because we are on dirt roads. Yay us.

Anyway, Sunday I went with my neighbor Sue and her daughter Lauren for a little hike.  Right along Highway 50 near the cabin is a bat cave.  The cave is grated over now- an attempt to stop the spread of White Nose Syndrome in bats.  But still, there is a trailhead and we wanted to walk (hike) up there and it seemed easy enough.

See the bat cave up there at the top? 

Ha!

Sue leads the way.

We started out innocently enough on the road. 

Quickly it became ....

rocks? 

The three of us probably should not be allowed out to hike.  We parked and headed down what looked like a trail.   Lauren went a bit ahead of us. Quickly we realized the trail was really just the wash out from where it had rained.  We carried on. Lauren got further ahead, earbuds tightly tucked into her ears.

We trudged along, a sort of path, sort of just a divide between the rocks. Some places there were just rocks.

Is this a trail? 

Not really.

I thought Lauren headed up the mountain. Sue thought Lauren had gone around the corner. We went straight, around the corner and no Lauren.

On we hiked.   No Lauren.

After a bit we admitted this was not a trail, we were half a mountain away from where we wanted to end up and Lauren was no where in sight.

We called for her. No answer.

We discussed that at least she was wearing bright yellow shorts. Search and Rescue could easily spot her.

We backtracked. No Lauren.

We got back almost to the car. No Lauren.

We waited. Sue and I climbed a bit straight up towards the bat cave. Certainly that wasn't how we were supposed to do it?   But there were vestiges of some stairs. Maybe it was.  We needed gloves, though, to try that climb.

Scanning the mountain.

No yellow shorts.

Finally Lauren comes bopping around the bend.  She had found a trail. It led no where near the bat cave.

We headed home. No one really got lost. But we never made it up to the cave.

Monday Sue stopped at the Forest Service and found us a map for trails. The bat cave trail I "KNEW" was there is gone. Once the cave was grated over, the trail was abandoned. That explains why we couldn't find it.  But when it was there, it was straight up.

Tuesday we are going on another hike. Waterdog Lakes.   Maps have been procured. We've got info.
We are going to discuss good hiking practices. (Stay together. Stay on the trail.)
If there isn't a post on Thursday- please call out the rescue team.