Separation Lake via Horse Creek

I love hiking! I got to the trailhead which is only about 40 minutes from our house at about 8 AM. There was another car at the trailhead and ran into the person not long after crossing the bridge on the Horse Creek Trail. He said he was turning around after seeing some bear scat. I think it was horse, though, honestly when I got further up the trail. Still, a friendly guy to have a conversation with before not seeing anyone for the rest of the day. I really like that. I felt like I had the forest to myself. I hiked with headphones in today because I really needed it. When I started out the hike, I was kind of glum. That mood seemed to change as the day went on. The trail was clear of downed trees all the way to the trail junction. From there I hiked down to Separation Lake. I don't think that I had ever been on this section of trail. 

It was steep downhill and had quite a few downed trees. I had to cross two creeks also, which had some logs to balance on. It leveled out before reaching Separation Lake. I hadn't been to Separation Lake for many years and when I went before it was in the fall. During the spring it was so much prettier. I remember it being almost a swamp, but right now it was a really pretty wooded lake. I ate some food and rested my knee. It was feeling a bit sore, but resting for a bit made it feel better. Then it was back up the trail, this time climbing up the really steep hill. It was a good workout, but honestly I wasn't trying to break any records. I took my time, listened to music, and really felt alive again. It was like the woods and the wilderness really revived me on this day. When I got back to the trailhead, I was disappointed. I had enjoyed the hike so much that I did not want to go back to the real world. Today just reminded me that this is always there for me. We worry about money, career, making things perfect for people around you and the commitments that we have. But there is always wilderness to explore. I love hiking!



 

East Fork Trail

Still recovering from my knee injury, I decided to take a trail that went quickly downhill. Not really the greatest of ideas, but since last year they were doing work on the Cougar Dam and the road to the trailhead was closed, this is what I wanted to do now that it was finally open. I had Conrad to join me. The drive to the trailhead went fine. It was back up Aufderheide Road, but this time I turned at the dam and went across it. The road stayed paved for a time and then went uphill. It was about 8 miles up a dirt road when I got to the trailhead beside the road. There are two directions that you can travel from this point. Conrad and I went downhill. This is because going uphill would probably place us into snow pretty quickly. 

As I was expecting the trail went down fairly quickly and it didn't take long for my knee to feel a little bit sore. I still powered through it knowing that some ice and elevation would relieve the pain that I was feeling on this day. Eventually the trail made it down to the East Fork. The trail was in very good condition at this point. The creek was really nice and the walking was enjoyable. Conrad and I were even talking about how you could run this trail. Then it got worse. The brush got thicker, the logs increased until about three and a half miles in we came to a mighty large log that was blocking the trail on a steep slope. We could probably figure out a way to cross it safely, but given the soreness in my knee and the constant fight we were putting up with the trail, we decided this was a good place to count our losses and head back to the trailhead. The hike back goes so quickly and I enjoyed the conversation. Still, the knee was pretty sore by the time we made it back to the car. I definitely glad I went for the hike though. The creek was really pretty and the hike was enjoyable. I was going to need to rest my knee though.