[STUMP]

6-6 Friday. Drove. (hot/dusty) to Lake Wynoochee for my first camp/hike of the season. Expectations were to have a reasonable 12-14 mile hike from a drive in camp. The Wynoochee campground had their water shut down by the state, contaminated! No biggie, I always carry extra water in my car. I hung my hammock had a quiet meal and settled in for the night. Traffic... about a dozen vehicles between 2200 and 0200, love those drive-in camps. Up at six, light breakfast, and on the trail at seven with fanny pack. The trail was well defined and seemed well marked. The first surprise, the trail forked, taking the logical turn towards the lake to follow the shore. oops, that trail switched-back about a hundred foot drop down into the walk in camps which hadn't been cleaned up for the season yet. back up to the trail took the other one. another twenty minutes and it dropped down towards a river crossing, five foot drop, fording, thirty foot scramble up the other side to the trail. The trees, many old growth were spectacular. The day was warm and quiet, lots of birds, scat and track, and few animals. The next three stream crossings were nicely bridged but the trails had some very large downed trees and several detours around slides. finally forced to scramble up a steep/loose face to the plateau and bust out to the road. About a mile on the road there was a fording and a beach area where people had rv's parked. A car passing through offered a ride back to the Coho Campground and I accepted. Having met most of my objectives, tested my condition, got some sole/soul time and inventoried the stuff. Summary: The west side of the lake is tricky but the environment is fantastic. The east side is a series of side roads and camps. I doubt that the trail would still quallify for a "National Scenic" catagory.