Sly Park - Nov. '24

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On the Tuesday after Veterans' Day, five of us drove to the Fleming Meadow traihead, at Sly Park, elevation 3,500 ft., but the access road and trail were closed due to parking lot work. 

Nearby is the Jenkinson Lake trail, so we walked there instead. At 10 am it was chilly, and all of us had an extra layer & gloves, as we set out. 

Once on the trail, winter's low-angled sunbeams lit up the fall colors at ground level.

	Jenkinson Lake		winter sunlight		Big Leaf Maple
		mostly pine forest		Calif. Red Oak
	Rick
				us

After staying on the lakeside trail for about 2 miles, we tried the Equestrian trail, which was a long uphill walk, until we came upon a noisy tree-cutting operation, and turned back.  

On the return walk we had lunch by the water, with rocks or logs to sit on. It was sunny but barely warm. 

			white fir		lunch stop area
						Rick & ground mist
	bracken fern
				dogwood
	almost back		Donna

Continuous grade changes plus roots & rocks made this a challenging walk. I tripped on a rock and launched myself towards Rick. My out-of-control stomping footsteps made him think "a horse was suddenly coming up from behind."

Hiker consensus was we walked at least six miles, and some of it was steep, so elevation gain was probably 400 ft.

This is a great walk because (1) the woods are still here, (2) you're in the mountains, and (3) it is not far from home for all of the hikers.   

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