July 25
There wasn’t any rush to hit the trail early (it had taken me 3.5 hours to hike in and I expected less on the way out) so I had time for a second coffee, admiring the early light on the lake. It’s hard to leave such a perfect campsite!
Eventually we packed up and made our way back on the same trail (did not see anybody until about 300m from the car when I encountered a small group of hikers).
The smart dog is really good finding her way back and never hesitates at any junction … even if you passed 9 turns, she knows exactly to turn at the 10th junction if that is where she came from. On the long downhill, off leash outside of the hiking area, she went back into berry picking mode … running ahead, stopping to eat berries, and moving on only just when I got to her!
It wasn’t all downhill on the way out either … about 250m of climbing needed to be done before hitting the notch and heading down. But less sweat was spent hiking 1000m down compared to 1000m up! Only two sections were really overgrown:
The views were just as great, the hike uneventful, and after about 2.5 hrs we were back at the car (no armed teenagers around).
It’s a great, easily accessible getaway (2 miles on gravel road, in good shape). After a short stop in town, we headed back up the hill to Big Mountain and got to spend another special day with Ron and Kim on Saturday 🎂
