Black Lake — Friday, Jun. 4, 2021

We were using this trail as a backpacking trip. We were trying to avoid snow. We ended up hiking in on Friday evening and camped at the lake. On Saturday we hike along the overgrown lake creek trail and then came back to camp. We hiked out on Sunday (6/06) morning.

——-ADVENTURE

I haven’t done any hiking in the Pasayten wilderness before so it was a good experience. I thought the trail would be more desert-y, but it ended up being pretty green this time of year. Most older trees are dead from the fire (2003?) and are either standing snags or downed logs. However a lot of 12 foot tall pines are around. I think there is also a type of thin brushy willow that have populated the area.

When we got to the lake, we discovered a canoe near our camping spot. No one was around so we assumed someone had just left it there. We went out on it three times during the trip. One of my buddies found a flat piece of wood and carved a third paddle for it. If you hike up there. Don’t be afraid to take the canoe for a ride.

——-WILDFLOWERS

There was a good amount of wildflowers that decorated the trail. The ones I saw were harsh Indian paintbrush, red Columbine, Tall Solomon’s seal, false Solomon’s seal, Queens cup, Western serviceberry, Red Osier dogwood, nootka rose, scarlet gilia and more.

——-TRAIL CONDITION

The trail is in pretty good condition. There are sections where plants will encroach on the trail brushing your knees, but it is perfectly passable. The trail is pretty flat so an easy hike for kids or people not conditioned for hiking. The trail was snow free. There were some bugs, but they didn’t really bother us.

——-ROAD CONDITIONS

The road is dirt-gravel for a about 15-20 minutes of driving. It is a little bumpy, but I think most vehicles could do it if they drive slowly and avoid pot holes. I was driving a CR-V.

——-CAMPING

I didn't see two many spots for camping. There seems to be two spots for tents about 1/3 of the way down the lake. Their may be some hidden ones before that. At the end of the lake there is one and another a couple minutes down the trail.

——-PEOPLE

We only saw 2 people on Friday. 3 parties camping on Saturday. 3 parties on our hike out on Sunday.

——-NOTE

I am making a separate report for Lake Creek trail going past the lake.