Burnt Lake 11/2

[pdxgene]

With the sunshine calling I met up with Jane and Jim out in Sandy today to take a hike up to Burnt Lake. As you may have noticed, it was a pretty nice day to have off..
Burnt Lake upon our arrival just a bit before noon..

It was just so quiet up there. We saw one person coming down as went up and one couple going up late to camp just as we got back to the trailhead. Other than that, we had the whole place reserved for portlandhikers folks today..
A closer look at the rapidly melting snow on Mt Hood..

No snow on the trail to the lake and so little at the lake it'll be gone pretty much in a day or two. Even on the shady side of the lake. Just full out sunshine and the occasional wisp of a breeze..

As you can tell it was a pretty rough day. Shorts and tshirt all day in November at 4,100'. Yay!

And the 8' drop over the sometimes wet and slippery, and always exposed, rock is no more..

Lost Creek Falls was roaring pretty good, too wet and slidy to go down the rocks to the base but still nice to look at from up above..

And with Jim in the foreground and Jane walking out of the picture in the background..

The dark forest makes the water pics of Burnt Lake Creek nice and swirly..

And that's where the magic purple mushrooms grow..

Bunches more in higher res.. http://picasaweb.google.com/pdxgene/BurntLake64
Thanx to Jim and Jane for coming along, it was a great day!

[retired jerry]

I got to go up there now and check out the repaired place

[pdxtrojan]

Glad that boulder is gone. The only time I thought I might actually take a tumble was trying to cross that sucker with a camera chest pack complicating things. Great pics. Wish I'd had the day off!

[kateinoregon]

Gene, Can you clarify: has the boulder been removed or has the trail been carved out uphill of it?

I was up there in September and it was pretty challenging crossing that section for my short legged dogs!!!

[pdxgene]

Removed. I'll use the forest service website quote.. The rock was "blown up".
Jane even found a little tag from a blasting cap. The trail still follows the same line and is still a bit rough approaching the spot where the rock was. Much safer and easier than before but still requires care and concentration. If going up in winter/spring (icy or snowy)you'll definitely want YaxTrax or some kind of traction aiding device.
Maybe next year they can touch up the rest of that section and the upper snowfield/open area too.

[Jane]

It was a glorious day for this hike! Gene has put up wonderful pics of this beautiful area, so yeah blah, blah, pretty creek, lake and mountain..

small patches of snow in some shadowed areas

and yada, yada cool mushrooms..

usual wildlife suspects..

(ahem, a dare was presented, "Jane, why don't you put some chips on your hat and we'll take pictures of the Grey Jays landing and taking them!" - somebody owes me a beer at least for my compliance )

(we acknowledge it is NOT smart to feed the wildlife, apologies!)

As far as the boulder outcrop on the trail, here is a before pic

and now

A blasting cap label left behind (it was small, sorry for poor clarity) read "3.7M, 12FT" if that means anything, the writing on it was French-ish "Danger Explosif" and "Blasting Cap Detonateur"

The trail coming up to this spot is getting vulnerable too, soft, eroding earth sloughing down the hill - additional repairs will be needed eventually.

Most excellent day Gene and Jim, thanks!