We hit the trail around 9 am, which is a late start for me hiking, but were still the first ones out from that point. We spent about two and half hours on the trail, which is a long time to hike 5.5 miles, but that included me going slow on some steep sections, a bunch of messing around when we actually got to Gillette Lake, and my right knee getting funky on the downward slopes near the end of the hike.
The place was, as usual for the Pacific Northwest, stunning.
View back toward the Oregon side, fairly early in the hike
Hiking through a stand of trees, also early in the hike
Prayer flags on the trail in one of the clear cut areas
The trillium are in bloom, though this one was a bit distressed
Gillette Lake its own self as seen from the trail heading down to the shore (the lake lies in a steep bowl valley)
A bit of pareidolia as we approached the lake itself — this looks like a bear to me
J— in the woods by the lakeshore
Gillette Lake up close and personal
Looking across the lake up at the crest where the trail brought us out of the woods
The water was very clear, and very green
Gillette Lake is fed by a lovely, noisy stream
The dog enjoying the stream
J— crossing the stream (I decided not to try that bridge with my poor balance)
The bridge I did use, a few hundred yards upstream from the lake
View of the stream from the bridge
Happy dog by the lakeshore
As usual, more at the Flickr set.
Photos © 2012, Joseph E. Lake, Jr.
This work by Joseph E. Lake, Jr. is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.