Jun 26 2007
Beaver Lake Trail
I went on a hike recently to Beaver Lake. They have a new-to-me loop around the lake now that I finally got to walk on and it was beautiful! The weather wasn't warm like I was hoping but it wasn't raining. I was mostly by myself, which was nice as I was able to stop and take photos guilt-free!
At the very beginning of the hike I was overtaken by two adventurous souls: Judd and Tim. Tim I've known for a number of years. He's spent time on the Bering Sea and on mountain tops, among other things. This day these two had skis strapped on their heavy packs and were heading for an overnight beyond a 4500' mountain, in a wide bowl that has superior ski runs, apparently. I thought they were nuts. Just watching them climb the steep grade up the first part of this trail was impressive. They were chatting the whole way, too. No out-of-breath people there. You can see how steep it was by the angle of the stairs and in the photo looking down at the parking lot.
The only bear sign I saw was the pile of bear scat on the boardwalk. The boys had passed me and I caught up with them again at the loop sign. We walked the muskeg trail together for a ways and I got a photo of them pointing way up Bear Mountain, towards their final destination, which was hidden in clouds. Tim tried convincing me to hike up there. Hah!
The muskeg part of the trail is my favorite. Spring flowers were in full bloom. These photos above show Deer Cabbage, Bog Laurel, Bunchberry and Butterwort. The latter looks alot like a purple violet but the leaves tell you otherwise.
The Butterwort, Mountain Shooting Stars and Caltha-Leaved Avens were all over the place.
The False Azalea bushes were also in full bloom.
The trail descended to the lake and followed some inviting stepping stones placed there by the Sitka Trail Works crew. It then followed the south shore of the lake through old growth spruce and hemlock, with a steep hill rising up its bank. The Devil's Club was just getting going with its new growth.
I sat down and ate some lunch and enjoyed the solitude. Such a peaceful place. I hope to return to the lake in the fall when the leaves have turned. I saw the area in the fall once and it was spectacular.