Holy crowds, Batman. Having not hiked major trails through the pandemic, and before that hiking mostly midweek, I was not prepared for a Sunny-Saturday volume of hikers on a Wednesday afternoon. The Maple Pass turnoff had cars parked along Hwy 20 for a half mile in either direction, and the Blue Lake TR had a couple dozen along the road.
While the early bird may get the worm, the late hiker will get the trail mostly to themselves after enduring countless parties on the way down. I've never seen so many kids on a trail (one 4-5 year old descending with a pack of other Hipster Baby Gappers just below the lake said to me, "you're almost there! Just, like, maybe... 3 hours or so." Yaa, it sometimes feels like that.)
The late hiker also gets to park in the lot after the early birds have left, as well as a glassy lake and that magical sunset light. Needed a flashlight for the last stretch through the trees down to the parking lot.
The Tarn Loop Trail above and to the right of Blue Lake is always worth doing, and we had that to ourselves. This was Hazel's first larchy immersion, and she gave it two paws up, though we both miss the Late, Great Loki dog who'd hiked all the trails with me for so many years.
Comments
Muledeer on Blue Lake
Cool perspective of a late hiker! We were early birds, so perhaps you got our parking spot! We also had few people on the trail and at the lake until around noon.
Posted by:
Muledeer on Oct 08, 2020 08:11 PM
Girl and Dog on Blue Lake
Ha, thanks for the parking spot! Ya, that sounds about right: either early or late is a win, but in the middle is a whole lot of traffic. Great pics and wow on the goat sighting! A guy coming down from the Tarn Loop said he saw one up there in the late afternoon, but pretty sure that my hiking with a dog sends them for cover. Glad you guys caught a peaceful morning with the larch!
Posted by:
Girl and Dog on Oct 08, 2020 10:44 PM
hyphedutinator on Blue Lake
Good tip! What would you consider late? Planning on heading up tomorrow and would love not needing to get up at 4:00am!
Posted by:
hyphedutinator on Oct 08, 2020 10:01 PM
Girl and Dog on Blue Lake
I got there at 3:45pm, am not a fast hiker by anyone's standards, and that was still plenty of time to get up to the lake, putter around posing the dog with larches, amble around the Tarn Loop Trail, and catch the sunset over the Liberty Bell group above the left side of the lake. Just be sure to bring a light source and a backup light source -- it gets DARK in the woods, but the trail is easily navigable with a light and has no spur trails to confuse you. Have a great hike!
Posted by:
Girl and Dog on Oct 08, 2020 10:38 PM