Lake Clementine - May '25 

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On the 2nd Tuesday in May, nine of us met in Roseville and carpooled to the Lake Clementine trailhead, located at the Hwy 49/ Old Foresthill Rd. intersection, near Auburn, Ca. This general area is where the north and middle forks of the American River combine. The popular Quarry Trail on the middle fork is only a short drivce away.

On the walk to the dam, we had a long, steady uphill grade to a high point, from where we dropped to lake level. As you approach the dam, the percussion sound becomes deep & impressive. 

	first look at trail				Foresthill Rd. bridge
		narrow trail at first		soon its an easy road
	Bay Laurel		impressive sticky monkey flower, see note 1
		steady uphill walk		spring madia
	Pacific Madrone (arbutus)		early Buckeye flower		flowering Buckeye trees
		Japanese Snowbell, note 2		sticky monkey flower

note 1 - I've never seen this type of sticky monkey flower before, but it comes in many colors (even white and red) and sizes. The one hikers most often encounter is shown in the last image, from the recent Stebbins Canyon walk.  

note 2 - plant names are via Picture This. This tree was a bit of a rare bird, too. 

We had lunch at the dam, with front row seats. The continuous roar of the water was loud, but not overly, so you could talk to your neighbor.  

On the way back we had another long uphill grade.     

	Lake Clementine		Utah Serviceberry
		uphill trek on the way back
	Marcia & Barbara and the bridge

The round trip walk was 4.5 miles with almost 700 ft. of gain. I was grateful for the long steady uphill grades, and it was overcast & breezy, a perfect (late spring) day to be out walking. 

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