Separation Lake

My one day of free time and a chance to get out I took with a trip up the Foley Ridge Road to the Separation Lake Trailhead. I had gone for a hike with the kids and my mom to the viewpoint overlooking Rainbow Falls earlier in the month. I figured out that this like many other long dirt roads in Oregon was in pretty good shape. So I came back and went a little farther up the road. The road was in fantastic shape all the way there. I was able to park in the early afternoon and get a hike in. This one, I was by myself as my buddy Conrad would not be joining me. Having a little less weight on my shoulders, I was able to really get moving. I was still feeling like I was in pretty good shape even with the challenge of the new job with early mornings and late nights. The trail was mainly flat from the beginning. I ran into a couple doing an overnight. They seemed in such a good mood and I felt jealous of all their free time. I kept moving and the trail stayed mainly flat going next to Separation Creek here and there. I was really moving. I talked to some other older ladies who were out there and let me pass. The trail was mostly wooded. Eventually I crossed a couple of bridges and I was on my way to Separation Lake. I arrived at the lake and honestly it was a little non-descript. It was like any other wooded lake you might see. The main thing for me is that I was back out there in the beauty interacting with nature and really just able to move. My job was really keeping me tied down and I was starting to really need these weekend trips.
During the week, I had been trying to find time to continue to run and I figured this trail would be a good one to come back and run some day. I had been enjoying running in Oregon, but there was nothing as good as being out in the wilderness and really interacting with the trail. I headed back. It started downhill and then once I crossed the last bridge, I went up. I ran into those older ladies again and I stopped to talk to them for a bit. The rest of the way there was nothing to get in my way except for a section of muddy, wet trail and a giant colorful spider hanging over the trail. Back to the trailhead in under 5 hours for a trail that is 13 miles round trip made me feel pretty good. I really enjoyed that trail and knew that I would be back there to enjoy it again as it was in such good shape, very comfortable being along the creek, and it just made for such an enjoyable day. After this though it was back to work for the rest of the weekend.