Wyeth State Park to North Lake 7/20

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tmerg2
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Wyeth State Park to North Lake 7/20

Post by tmerg2 » July 25th, 2016, 1:36 pm

Great hike, although do more than glance at the map before going, I read it as 6mi round trip not one way. Starting at about 9am, figured I'd be back by lunch, weather was perfect, sunny but beneath the tree canopy and in the canyon very pleasant even when going up the steep inclines. Started carrying a stick in front of face after walking through countless spider webs across the trail for the first half mile or so. Ran out of food at mile 4, by mi 6 I was definitely wondering what bark tastes like and almost tried chewing on those soft green/red pine cones (I eat a lot while hiking). Lot's of trees down and bushes growing over trail, and like that on and off all the way to the lake. At around mi 4 or 5 near a rocky slide zone I briefly heard what sounded to me like a baby mammal calling for Mom, unlike any of the bird sounds I'd been hearing. Started carrying a larger stick and trying to make lot's of noise, thinking maybe a bear but not really an expert on such things, didn't see any evidence. Heard a similar sound once more around mi 6.

Got to the lake, only person there. Saw a couple little trout near the shore and tried to fish for them, but mostly just scared them. Waded a bit in the little pool in front of the dam, up to my knees in silt, lot's of crawfish scuttling around. Fun to watch, but not very nice to each other, everything from tiny little ant sized ones to a big six or seven incher under a rock, don't think they are safe to eat raw unfortunately. And one trout looked trapped in the pond, alas could not catch it either. Hung out for a couple hours, finally saw two fisherman but they had no food either! Decided to start heading back, this time making lot's of noise all the way down. Got back to the trail head at about 6pm.

Overall really nice, although I'm writing Burgerville to open up at the lake. Next time I'd like to bring more food and a stay the night at the lake, water was warm enough that it was fairly pleasant on a warm day, although super silty bottom, makes the water look much shallower than it is. Pretty steep coming out of the canyon, plenty of water along the way in 2 or 3 creek crossings. And lot's of those Jurassic looking plants with the giant leaves and thorny stems. Plenty of the yellow egg yolk looking fungus too, what is that? Two fisherman (who came from the road by the lake) were the only people the whole day. FYI lot's of section of bushes growing over trail, and maybe ten or fifteen upended trees that you have to go over or under.

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drm
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Re: Wyeth State Park to North Lake 7/20

Post by drm » July 25th, 2016, 1:48 pm

I'm guessing that your Jurassic plant is giant hellebore:

Image

I don't know when they are ever going to get to those trees since they don't seem to ever be able to clear the much more popular Herman Creek.

tmerg2
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Re: Wyeth State Park to North Lake 7/20

Post by tmerg2 » July 25th, 2016, 1:53 pm

Plenty of those but I was talking about the ones the leaves that are broader, maybe like 1ft square and maybe five or six sided? I dunno, I can't seem to upload pictures. Yeah the trees weren't a big deal since I'm pretty squirmy but there were a few where I could see some people having a tough time getting over. Every time I saw one I was wondering if the guy/gal with the chainsaw has to lug it all the way up then down or if someone drops him off at the top and picks up at the bottom!

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miah66
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Re: Wyeth State Park to North Lake 7/20

Post by miah66 » July 25th, 2016, 2:31 pm

Probably Devil's Club.

Your rock monster was most likely a pika. :lol: :lol: Good thing you had a big stick!
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tmerg2
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Re: Wyeth State Park to North Lake 7/20

Post by tmerg2 » July 25th, 2016, 3:05 pm

Yeah that's it, thanks, Devil's Club, interesting wiki https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Devil%27s_club. And in case it's material, the Pika/Bear/Sasquatch was in pretty dense foliage where I couldn't see anything, the rocks were just the nearest memorable point.
Last edited by tmerg2 on July 30th, 2016, 7:50 pm, edited 1 time in total.

matimeo
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Re: Wyeth State Park to North Lake 7/20

Post by matimeo » July 26th, 2016, 10:52 am

How were the mosquitoes? I hiked that area in early July about seven years ago and the mosquitoes were an absolute nightmare- the worst I've ever seen anywhere in my hiking days. I'd like to revisit the area again sometime.

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drm
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Re: Wyeth State Park to North Lake 7/20

Post by drm » July 28th, 2016, 8:40 am

The mosquito season at North Lake, while bad, tends to be short-lived, like most places in the area. I haven't been there in a few weeks but would expect it should be over by now.

tmerg2
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Re: Wyeth State Park to North Lake 7/20

Post by tmerg2 » July 30th, 2016, 7:48 pm

matimeo wrote:How were the mosquitoes? I hiked that area in early July about seven years ago and the mosquitoes were an absolute nightmare- the worst I've ever seen anywhere in my hiking days. I'd like to revisit the area again sometime.
Don't remember thinking much about them at all, might have used some bug spray at some point but not much, no bites. Never seen so many spider webs though, maybe they help with the mosquitoes.

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