Had an early season, break in the weather, wander up to Barclay Lake up near Baring on today. The drive up Hwy 2 under partly sunny skies was uneventful. Noticed that Zeke's was not open today. Its my first time to the lake after the Bolt Creek fire in September of 2022 that scarred much of the area around Baring Mountain. Fortunately there were only a few burnt spots along the access road and the trail. As previously reported, there is a washout near the beginning of the forest service road but the rest of the way is in pretty good shape with only a few potholes to dodge.
We arrived about noon with a few cars in the parking lot and a couple more just after we arrived. Seemed most hikers were coming and going pretty quickly. Note the trailhead toilet was closed still and there was no place for garbage. As has unfortunately become custom in our woods, there were several dog poop bags along the trail. Please bring an old plastic margarine or sour cream container to store and carry your dog's poop and don't leave it along the trail. And if you do (please don't) take a photo of where it is located so you will know where to pick it up on the way back. Better yet, if you are using a smart phone or watch, mark the GPS point to where you leave the poop bag so you can make sure to find it to pick it up on the way out. Or do like we do sometimes and bring a garbage bag to pick up trash on the way back. I can imagine the poop bag total skyrocketing during peak hiking months. :-(
Once on the trail and in the shade it cooled off quite a bit and I kept my coat, hat, and neck gaiter on a large part of the day. The trail was mostly in fine shape but there were a few areas where small streams had completely covered the trail with water. Its possible to navigate the sides of the trail/streams and hiking poles here help a lot. Trail crews had cut a section of fallen logs (thank you) but there was one large log that one has to crouch under to get past. The reward on the other side is a trail to a remote pit toilet. The only snow were small patches in the lake area. No snow on the trail at all when we went.
Along the way we were serenaded by pacific wren. At an avalanche wash there were several stellar jay warning our arrival. At one point a noisy flicker called incessantly far up in the trees. We also saw a robin in the woods. There were not many blooming flowers but we did see a skunk cabbage just poking its yellow blooms out of a marshy area near the lake. A trillium did the same along the trail.
The lake level was very high and the usual summer lunch spot when first arriving at the lake was very under water. However, if one continues on there are several good areas to take a break. Some are more secluded in the forested areas while others are large and wide open. Just make sure to pick a spot that has a good view of Baring mountain. Snow covered about half the mountain and provided good relief for the dark rocks of the north face. On our day, the lake was very peaceful and still. The same could not be said about this awesome mountain as every few minutes snow avalanches would tumble down the chute between the north and south summits. We would watch as the snow fell from the very top and then over the course of a minute it would fall over a couple of precipices on its way down. A second later we would hear the rumble of the falling snow. Sometimes there was a large strike when a rock caught in the slides would hit the hard surfaces far below.
After our break, we walked to the end of the maintained trail. We saw that someone had put up a blue tarp over one of the campsites although it was vacant. Maybe they are reserving a spot for a weekend. There are a couple of dedicated pit toilets up there - one about half way up the lake and the other more towards the end. The are marked by signs and then trail ribbon. So please use them people to keep this area clean.
By the time we headed back we noticed that the sun which had been to the left of the mountain, was now to the right. It tried hard to come out in full but it was always reaching through the clouds. This also probably helped us get better views of the face as it can quite dark there when the sun is shining brightly behind it.
We met two other parties on the way back. We reached the trailhead at about 4:30. On the drive down the FS road and towards the bottom we came upon a blue grouse strutting along and in the middle of the road. Fool's hen indeed. Seems he wanted to tell us a story but we carried on. All in all, a great day for a hike.
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