Skyline Trail Loop, Lakes Loop — Sunday, Aug. 1, 2021

I’ve been meaning to linkup these two trails into a longer loop in the Paradise area for a while. I left from Paradise about 7am on a smoky Sunday and didn’t encounter large crowds or encounter parking issues. 

The mosquitoes are out everywhere along this loop! It literally felt like a swarm around me every time I stopped.

As usual for the summer, the meadows are teeming with marmots. Wildflowers are blooming everywhere, but they were absolutely popping along the Mazama Ridge trail, just past the junction with the Skyline Trail. 

Trail conditions are excellent throughout. I think I crossed 3 snowfields in my trail runners, but they were melting fast. There were maybe 5 or 6 small blowdowns along the Wonderland west of the crossing with Stevens Canyon Road. There’s also a large one along the Narada Falls trail. Kudos to trail crews for improvements along this trail - it isn’t as muddy as it once was.

In total, I had about 10 miles with 2700’ of gain. The best parts of this loop are definitely at the higher elevations. Next time, I’ll remember the bug spray.