Graeagle - September '23
walk two - Bear Lakes & Round Lake Loop
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The second walk began at a car park near Gold Lake Lodge. |
On Saturday we drove fifteen minutes southeast from Graeagle on Gold Lakes Road, to do a hike which I recently saw on AllTrails. The trail is popular and appears to be easy, with only 650 ft. of gain over 4.3 miles, with good lake views.
Being a Saturday, the carpark was nearly full & later we saw many people & dogs on the trail. Once again, we saw backpackers heading to higher ground & more distant lakes.
Some of us reflected that camping here in such ideal fall weather, low 40s in the mornings & up to the 70s mid-day, was an ideal time to be in the mountains.
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heading to Big Bear Lake | |||
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first look at Long Lake & Mt. Elwell (7,818 ft.) |
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Kathy & John | ||
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Silver Lake was next |
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lunch spot |
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mountain ash again |
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taking a break at Round Lake |
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great scenery ! |
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mountain ash again | ||
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John, Kathy, Jean |
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horse mint |
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At lunch it was windy, with strong gusts, but Kathy found a lakeside bluff with big trees that afforded us some protection, plus a good view of Silver Lake.
This hike was harder & more technical than expected.
On our third evening in Graeagle, Jean invited three of us over for appetizers at 4:30 pm. Her cabin had an attractive back yard w/big pines. Jean served us strawberries, figs, cheeses & crackers, plus a knockout avo-jalapeno hummus !
Then we drove ten minutes to the Brewing Lair, in Blairsden, on a wooded property just off hwy. 70.
There's a main brewing barn, where you order beer, and just downhill are terraces w/tables, with a nice lawn all around. From Fri. - Sun., a local food truck provides food from noon until 7 pm.
It was late Saturday afternoon, and at 6 pm the place seemed to empty out, just as we arrived. The group that left were on motorcycles or mountain bikes.
Once settled in with a house beer, we ordered food, which came quickly. I had the house brown ale, and a black bean veggie burger taco with shredded cabbage & an amazingly hot chipotle sauce.
Holy smokes, you needed a beer to put the fire out !
go to next day's hike - Long Lake and Grassy Lake
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