8/24/21 started hiking at 630 am. All of the places I've been hiking this summer so far have been crowded with other hikers including Mount ⛰Rainier & the Leavenworth area near Enchantments & also Mount Baker, but I had this trail all to myself BOTH ways - not a single other hiker & when I got back to the trailhead no other cars. Really felt like "My Own Private Idaho". 😎
The hike was great & the 6 miles there went very quick. I enjoyed the lake & I had brought a fishing 🎣 line just in case because I read the reviews that there is some good fishing here. So I dropped my line in with a little red cherry lure and sure enough a beautiful rainbow 🌈🐟 trout took the bait in a few seconds. I quickly released him - too early for a fish dinner.
On the way back I think I heard 👂 one bear and I saw another 🐻. I also think I saw the back end of an elk running away or something with a white rear end. The bear that I did see cracked a branch so I saw him before he saw me. In fact I don't think he saw me but I think he did smell me or heard me cuz he was looking for something.
He was through the trees on a ridge above me. I had a good view of him with my naked eye but I couldn't get a good picture 📷 of him - too many shadows & branches.
HE 🐻 stood there for a few minutes just looking around and then he started coming down and was on a trajectory to intersect with the trail in front of me so I started running to avoid being seen and probably ran about half a mile to make sure I was out of his distance. HE was a big 🐻 boy - i DIDN'T want to tangle with him.
Back at the parking lot i explored the river for about an hour before leaving. There's lots of little pools and waterfalls you can cool off in although the water is a bit too cold to stay in for too long but it is warmer than Fault Lake itself which was too cold to swim in. Also by the way there were NO flies or mosquitoes up there this time of year 👍.
Getting to the trailhead is a fairly easy drive except for the last half a mile is a bit rough - a dirt road with big bumps and rocks but if you go slow enough you can make it even with a regular car 🚗
