[PaleoCook]

Distance: 14.6 mi // Elev Gain: 2517 ft // Time: 6 hours 45 minutes WTA: http://www.wta.org/go-hiking/trip-reports/trip_report.2017-01-08.7685306631 GPS: https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/1516739931 Photos: http://s1380.photobucket.com/user/Perry_Campbell/library/Wallace%20Lake%20010817 The plan for the day was to hike up the three falls and continue on to Wallace and then Jay Lake. I started out somewhat on the early side, leaving the icy trailhead at 8am. The roads up to the trailhead were a little icy but not bad at all for my Forester. When I left my car, the parking lot was basically ice. I needed to put on my microspikes to go to the trailhead restroom. The hike started out, and remained, very windy. There were several downed trees and I could hear a lot of creaking, moaning, and groaning timber as I hiked along. For the first part of the trail up to the middle/upper falls I just booted it. It started to get a bit icier later on so I threw on my microspikes again. The falls were partially frozen but still flowing. They made for some beautiful views, but my real prize was yet to come (Wallace Lake). I continued past the upper falls and on to the upper grade towards Wallace Lake. The wind was definitely picking up at this point and I heard a couple trees snap and crash down in the forest. It was windy enough to be knocking some branches down with big gusts, but was mostly manageable. I ended up putting on my snowshoes at some point along the upper grade towards the lake. There were short cross country ski tracks that I did my best to avoid, but that I'm sure are probably gone as I write this with the storm that moved in. I continued my hike up to Wallace Lake and got there in about 3:30, having taken several stops for pictures and food along the way. The best views of Wallace Lake are around the north side, so I hiked up and around the lake to get some pictures. I started my hike towards Jay Lake but decided that I should head back down due to the coming storm. It was starting to rain/snow and the wind was picking up in spurts. I came across some of the only other hikers of the day at the Wallace Lake sign, two trail runners (rock on gents!). We stopped and chatted for a minute and then they continued on to not lose any more heat from standing still (if I remember, one of them was wearing shorts!). My original plan was to go down the Greg Ball trail, but because of the wind, I decided to stay out from under the trees as much as possible and opted for a slightly longer hike down the DNR road. After hiking a few miles down the DNR road, which had some nice, although foggy, views of the surrounding mountains, I came to the DNR connector trail. Apparently, it was closed (this would have been good to note on an earlier map, but it wasn't marked as closed on the ones I came across). "Due to logging occurring around the .6-mile connector trail, this area will be closed during this time. The trail leaves state park and into DNR forest lands. For your safety please DO NOT ENTER THIS AREA". Well, I didn't want to hike all the way back up the DNR road, so I took the trail anyway. Oops. It was fine, but maybe I should check with the park staff at the listed phone number on the sign. By the time I made it back to my car, the storm had rolled in. It was solidly raining/snowing and very blustery. Back to the car at 2:45 or so. All in all, a solid hike, and I'm glad I got out when I did! Jay Lake will just have to wait for next time.

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