I went up to Wallace Falls via the Woody Trail and then proceeded up to the top to make the trip over to Wallace Lake. Next I came back down via the Greg Ball trail and then down the Old Railroad Grade for a 10.5 mile loop hike.
I started out at around 4:30pm to avoid the heat of the day. Fortunately it is a shaded trail, as it was fairly warm even at this time. Sweated buckets up to the top of the falls and then was greeted by a nice breeze at the very top of the falls. I used an all natural Bug Band to keep away the bugs, this seemed to work as I did not get any bites! On the trail over to the lake, there were some pesky bugs dive bombing me whereupon I used my MacGyver skills to outwit and defeat them (nothing like dead branches and dancing around like a crazy person to ward off evil bugs).
That being said, it was a really lovely way to kick off my hike-a-thon. I am really happy the weather is supposed to be getting cooler so that I can continue towards my mileage goals!
Happy Hiking to all and especially my fellow hike-a-thoners!

    Started hiking at 7:30. Wallace River is still running strong. Only a few muddy spots. Stopped at all the view points, but skipped the Boy Scout nature trail. Pace was slow and leisurely with lots of conversation. Followed the blue diamonds from the Upper Falls up steep unmaintained user trail to abandoned road. Walked to the Wallace River to look at location of the old bridge and then turned around and headed to Wallace Lake. Tire tracks here on the road. Easy flat walking in the shade till the last mile or so when we were on a working forest road with no shade (welcome this day). Walked to the NW corner of the lake and ate our final lunch on the small delta of the North Fork Wallace River where it enters the Lake. Followed several roads down to the Greg Ball Trail. Very nice trail and beautiful forest. We can hear the North Fork, but only a few views of it. Bike tracks on the trail (closed to bikes????). Continued back to the TH on the RR Grade. Trails are well signed and in good condition. Met maybe a dozen hikers all day until we neared the parking lot when there were lots coming up. Stats were: 13 miles, 2,010’ gross elev. and 8 hours.

Started at the trailhead of Wallace Falls. Pretty busy along the way to the falls. Took the cutoff to the Greg Ball trail, which is in good condition and a great hike with some elevation gain. Make sure to take a right when you reach the end of the Greg Ball trail, this will lead you to the beginning of the short trail to Wallace Lake. Trail to Wallace is in good condition, the trail around the lake headed toward the Pebble Beach is very muddy in areas. Overall, a 14 mile RT, make sure you have plenty of time for this. Looks like there are new signs for no camping around any of the lakes.

Being a hazy day this was a good low land hike/walk. We went up the to the falls, across the ridge, over to the lake and down the Greg Ball trail. The falls were beautiful and the trail is in good shape all around. Not to many hikers, but lots of bugs.