Dillon Lake

 Jacqueline gave me a day off from chores around the house as she had a lunch with some friends. The kids were so focused on their running that they did not want to break that so I was on my own. On a day like this, I try to pick something on the map that is a little bit obscure. I had hiked up Horse Creek numerous times, but never had I ever taken any of the offshoot trails past the Separation Lake turnoff. I knew they were likely going to not be in great shape, but I decided this was my goal for the day. I chose the first one which was the Water Holes Trail that would take me out to Cedar Swamp and Dillon Lake. I got to the trailhead early enough that the air still had a little chill to it. This was fantastic as I was going to be hiking uphill through an old burn area with many thimble berries, mountain huckleberries, and huckleberries to  eat along the way. There were some thick bunches that I had to stop to pick a few. The benefits of hiking an unpopular trail.

Conrad and I hiked this trail during the spring and there was a lot of deadfall on the trail. This time there were only a few trees as someone obviously came through and cleared out the trail. This was true as I trudged uphill gaining about 1700 feet from the trailhead until I reached the Separation Lake trail junction. This junction is about 5 miles into the trail. This is where the cleared trail became a thing of the past. I could see a sign of things to come as right at the junction there were some major deadfall almost blocking the path and saying to me, wouldn't you rather go see Separation Lake. I guess that is the more popular trail in this area. I was not going there today, though, and began the arduous journey of hopping over logs every 30 seconds.

I also ran into the only other people I would see on the trail the whole day. They were out for 5 days and had spent the night at Separation Lake. They were moving much slower than me with large packs on, so I chatted with them for a bit and was on my way. It wasn't long before I was going around a big log jam on the left when I felt the pain. It was a bee stinging me right in the wrist. I said a few choice words and then was sprinting away. This is tough to do with downed trees. I ran for a couple of minutes until I felt confident nothing was chasing me, then pulled the stinger from my wrist. The sting would annoy me for the rest of the day, but I never reacted too much to bee stings.

It wasn't too long before I was at the junction of Horse Creek and the Water Holes Trail. I took the path less traveled by and it took me downhill. The trail was a little less discernible, but there were probably just as many trees down on this path as there were on the main trail. There were only a few points where I had to continue to look for the trail and for being 7 miles into the backcountry, this trail was in better shape than I expected. It was mostly flat, but went somewhat downhill until I was at Cedar Swamp. Here I would have to cross Horse Creek. The creek was low and I decided to just get my feet wet rather than deal with removing shoes. This might actually have been a fine place to remove my shoes though as the creek was filled with mossy vegetation at the crossing.

Upstream and downstream Horse Creek looked interesting. It definitely looked swampy upstream and like a strong flowing stream downstream. I made the crossing successfully. It looked like there was a log that used to be the base of a bridge there, but that bridge was long gone. The trail went uphill from here and I could see Dillon Lake appear on my watch. It was a short uphill journey to get to the lake. The trail actually went around the lake, but I could see a path that went off through the woods. I could tell that this was a path that someone at sometime had used to backpack and camp near the lake. It took me right to the best view of the lake. Unfortunately, this lake was not one to go swimming in. 

It was swampy with a nice layer of mud on the approach to the lake. Still, it was sure to be great habitat as a duck swam quietly in the lake. I had a quick bite to eat and then I turned around. The allure of going further was there, but since I had already put in over 9 miles, I decided to turn around. I took a quick look at the creek flowing out of the lake and then it was back the way I came. I went down the hill, crossed Horse Creek, and then hiked uphill to get back to the Horse Creek trail. I took a short detour as the trail to Nash Lake was only a quarter mile up the trail. I was expecting a bunch of problems with this trail, but there was a good sign and it looked like some cut trees near the trail. I figured this was a future trip for sure.

 Then it was back the way I came past the place where I was stung. I was careful to cross every log jam on the opposite side just in case, but I easily found the place where I was stung. I had a little burst of speed to get past it. Soon I was done with the deadfall. I appreciate trail crew so much and every time I see them, I make sure to thank them for their work. Once there were no trees and I was just going slightly downhill, I was feeling good, so I decided to jog for a bit. My body was in such great shape from running so much, that I continued this for the last 4 miles. It is amazing how much quicker you can cover ground at just a jog compared to hiking. I was back at the trailhead in no time happy to have gone somewhere new today. It made me excited to come back and try Nash Lake in the future.