Hiked the loop from Dow Springs trailhead minus the KA hill section. This cuts over a mile and the only major climb out of the hike. A group of us did the full loop last June. Late May or early June is propably the best time to do this hike. The difference was on April 23 water lilys were just starting to sprout (vs. in bloom in June 2005) the Oak trees are not yet showing buds (vs fully leafed out in June) and the roses looked like dead bushes (vs. being in bloom in June). Other plants were in bloom in early June ... nothing during this trip. This is still a nice hike with a lot of variety.

We used the Overland Trail to loop back prior to KA hill section. This historical road would be almost invisable if not for the cairns and postings ... I will post a photo with both. We saw several deer on this section of the hike ... I expect any group not making a lot of noise will enounter wildlife on this section of the Overland Road (it appears to have few hikers).