Ashland Lakes — Wednesday, Sep. 15, 2021

Rating:  3 of 5 stars
My opinions:  Nice, easy hike.  Great to do on a cloudy day. 
The BIG problem with this hike is the POT HOLES in the road to the trailhead.  Impossible for a sedan.  There are potholes in the potholes.  They are filled with water, so you don’t know how deep they are.  I saw car parts in one pond (pot hole),
The hike is a gradual climb to the board walks.  Lots of nice board walks.  Overall, pretty flat once you get to the board walks.
The reflections on the lake were nice.  However, the lakes aren’t really special. 
It's worth it to take the side trip to Beaver Plant Lake.  Nice.
We accidentally went for about 20 minutes up the trail to Bald Mountain, thinking the trail was the hike around Upper Ashland Lake.  This trail is not maintained, but it’s about 5.4 miles to Bald Mountain, so if you want to hike this trail, it will take a long time. 
I liked hiking around the Upper Ashland Lake on the way back.  It wouldn’t be easy for little children, but it’s fun for adults with long pants on.  The trail is 50 percent overgrown, but it was fun to bushwack through the old trail, overgrown mainly with Huckleberry plants.  Also, the board walks here are more slippery with leaves, etc.  My hiking partner slipped and fell down on these.
Snow:  None.
Trail conditions:  Pretty good condition to the end of the Lower Ashley Lake.  Although, if you go to Bald Mountain or fully around the Upper Lake, the trail is not maintained. 
Poles are recommended, but not critical.
Bugs:  None.
Time: This trail took us (two 63 year-olds) about 5.5 hours, including taking pictures, walking around the lake, and taking many pictures and a 40 minute detour on the Bald Mountain trail.
Views:  None.
Flowers:  None.
Mushrooms:  Lots of beautiful mushrooms! 
Parking & Road Conditions:  As I said before, the potholes were a nightmare.  Only go with a high clearance vehicle.  My Toyota Highlander almost did not make it through a few potholes!  Go slowly!  Don’t take a sedan!!!!  Impossible.
We were the only ones on the trail, so the parking lot was empty at 1 pm on a Wednesday. 
Food:  The Thai Restaurant in Granite Falls is very good.  Also, Playa Bonita Mexican Restaurant has yummy carne asada (thin grilled beef).  It’s also fast.