Crooked Bypass

With a hint of rain in the air, fourteen of us decided to get one last hike in the high country.  The four vehicles headed up through the fall colors on the Carr/Feely Lakes Rd.  About halfway to the parking lot we were stopped dead in our tracks by a recently fallen pine blocking the road.  Since no one had a chainsaw handy, we waggled the branches and top, breaking off what we could.  Finally Clarence the Strong broke off the top enough to let the cars pass by. 

The trail was lovely and dry enough to the "big tree", Jim's landmark turnoff to Crooked Lakes.  We skittered on the edge of lakes and around trees and rocks, wending our way cross-country to the beautiful waterfall over the smooth brown rocks.  There we stopped for a leisurely lunch, enjoying the warm sun and rocks/listening to the water.  After lunch we walked around the next lake and continued XC to pick up the Grouse Ridge trail coming from Sawmill Lake.  We headed south on that trail and then turned right to go back down past Milk, Round, Long and Island Lakes.  We were surprised to see that on the outlet of the small lake past Island Lake, there appeared to be an island of leaves.  But they weren't leaves at all; they were parts of pinecones called bracts, floating in the water.  It took the work of countless squirrels over many summer days shucking cones to get at the seeds.  Truly impressive.   

That was a taxing 8 3/4 miles with a 1400 foot elevation gain.  The off trail portion was fun but tiring.

John and I won't be hiking next week as we'll be out of town. 
Clarence suggested the Hallelujah Trail off Hwy 20. It generally has a lovely showing of Dogwoods that are changing color. Meet at 9:00.

 Pictures by Maureen except the first one.