[Opus]

Woke up this morning and found I'd be doing a solo trip for this one. So where to go? I'd been leaving Annette Lake for an off season trip to avoid the crowds and headed off that way. Hard to believe I've been hiking awhile and hadn't been there before. Overall it was a pleasant trip. The creek was really raging and all of the little tributaries were flowing fast. Lots of water going places. Plenty of nice trickles and greenery. I'd left my SLR at home and only brought the little digital this time. Far too dark to get many good shots, but luckily I'd brought the travel tripod and spent much of my time taking pictures of all the streams.

I still had some time and the weather was decent enough - well it wasn't monsooning anyway - so I decided to check out Scout Lake. I drove up the Hansen creek road and parked at the old logging road. Lots of water here. The road bed itself was more creek than road! Eventually the road petered out and I was on trail until the lake. The track was good and pretty easy to follow. The creek was running pretty high and the crossing was tricky. I managed with one dry foot. The lake was pretty, a nice little one ringed with talus. Surprisingly it was half frozen over! Someone had also built a little fort-like structure in the talus above it using the rocks. It was the wrong shape and size for a bivy site though. I found the nicely-painted Geocache that had led me here, and the big salamander living under it. By now the rains were picking up so I started down. And then I somehow managed to give myself a major cast of the willies! I dont know what it was. I dont spook easily, but something just felt weird. I kept thinking there was something/someone behind me when there was nothing. And at times I was sure I heard a voice - nothing. Guess the rushing water and rain can play tricks on a person. I saw something move though, and a huge owl took off and flew right over me! First time I'd ever seen one hiking. I made it back to the car without incident and with dry feet. Just as I was about to close the hatch I heard "POW!" very close, then another "POW!" again! I didn't see another vehicle or person, but dang those gunshots were close! Weird day with two hikes. Annette was nice and peaceful, Scout was pretty but had a weird vibe.

Annette Lake trip photos Scout Lake trip photos

[Dane]

Beautiful shots, all of them.

[moosefish]

Perhaps it was me that you heard? Nah. No car at the Scout Lake trailhead when I got there and you didn't mention mine. I was there from about 10 until 12:30. Saw lots of trucks with orange-clad men in them. I tied a few strands of surveyor's tape to my pack for fun. I went all the way around the lake and found much of the shoreline flooded. My dog had issues in the water with the ice and on the talus, but otherwise it was a fun little hike. Nice and close to home and fitting my available time.

My dog had issues walking on the logs at the second crossing and spent a fair amount of time in the leafless, but still pointy devil's club. On the way down we just went straight down the creek bed to avoid crossing at all. I'm surprised no one has cut a path into the woods to skip crossing the creek. I had hoped to find a good campsite that I could take my daughter to, but found little other than rocks. I suppose the south end of the lake, where the water flowed in, might be ok if the lake wasn't overflowing.

[Opus]

[Beave]

Thanks for the pics guys. I've always wanted to check out Scout lake.

[moosefish]

Once we get a little snow it'll make for a fun evening outing. Throw in a full moon and it'd be just about perfect.

[derekwayne]

GOOD PICS did this early this year...pretty cool little hike