Barclay Lake, Eagle Lake

Talk about mushrooms! The Angels Wing mushrooms were so plentiful that after I filled two sandwich bags, my hiking partner had to keep me in check with the command "Leave it!"

Barclay Lake is an easy 4 mile round trip with little elevation gain and plenty of lush mosses, deep dark forests, little holes under tree roots that any hobbit would enjoy. The trail to the lake is dry and well maintained with lots of fresh turnpikes. There is only one spot where an upended treeroot damaged the path. The lake has many good campsites, pleasant beaches, and the stunning face of Mt. Baring overhead. That's the easy part. The way to Eagle Lake is altogether different.

At the far end of Barclay lake is a sign for a toilet, then a wood bridge. Just after the bridge is a faint, unmarked trail going uphill. In fact, there are several faint trails evidenced only by the relatively thicker collection of autumn detritus and the occasional pink ribbons. There is a Wild Sky Wilderness sign and thankfully little undergrowth. In general keep the gurgling creek to your right and climb steeply. Evenually the various traces come together to ascend the first big rock slide. Follow the cairns. The way is steep, gnarly, and occasionally overgrown with young trees and nasty sticker bushes.

Finally we arrived at a pleasant flat meadow at the base of the second rock slide. The trail is easier to find and navigate here because it goes up the right hand side through the trees. At the top is little Stone Lake which already has a veneer of ice. From here the trail contours easily around the west side of the lake and down to Eagle Lake. We did not get beyond Stone Lake because it was already getting late. It is 8.5 miles round trip to Eagle Lake from the trailhead with 1700 ft. elevation gain - most of that in the cruel mile up to Stone Lake.