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Black Lake-Lake Creek Trail, Winthrop Washington


























The morning started out great....we planned for a early leave time so we could beat the heat....Got about half way to Twisp and the little one decided that the apple sauce she had for breakfast didn't agree with her and riding in the car.....fun fun....so we scrambled around and got things cleaned up...rinsed out pant with water bottles and few spare paper towels for clean up....such a good way to start the day....after that little fiasco she seemed fine....we decided that if things stayed down we would continue.....The East Chewuch road is a beautiful drive...the ponderosa's are gorgeous....lots of flowers blooming on the 13 mile drive up the road.....saw a few deer...one or two with fuzzy horns.....The dirt road to the trail was free of blow downs...this is always a concern....I have been about a mile and a half up this road with a horse trailer and had a very large tree blocking the road....not fun backing up the trailer to find a decent turn around spot.....the weather was in the 70's with a blue sky and a slight breeze....the trail runs up the middle of a valley floor and with all the twist and turns you continually come back to the creek which is very full and very pretty.....the trail is fairly easy with only a few rolling sections...but nothing too strenuous....we saw some fresh moose tracks...two different sizes...but with the valley floor covered in brush and willow they could have been hiding anywhere.....the lake sits about five miles in....beautiful blue on a sunny day....the trail continues on down the side of it thru some avalanche rock slide areas.....very well maintained trail...only had to hop or climb over a few downed trees....going in that was fine...coming out....sometimes it was difficult to get the leg up high enough to get up and over the log.....a little bit of water on the trail in areas...but easy to cross with out soaking your boots.....lots of flowers blooming along the way....last time I hiked this trail it was a hot miserable July day....This is a trail you want to hike on a cool day or early season....We rested and lunched by the lake.....dipped our toes in the cold lake and watched the fish jump...from there we dropped our packs and hiked to the end of the lake....then returned the same way...it was a beautiful warm day...much hotter and we would have been roasting on the trail.

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