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| Hiking | 4.80 Miles |
374 AEG |
| | Hiking | 4.80 Miles | 3 Hrs | | 1.60 mph |
| 374 ft AEG | | | | |
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| no partners | | This was my first hike during a 3 night car camp at the Aspen Campground on Woods Canyon Lake. I arrived on a Thursday morning to make sure I could get a campsite for what I assumed would be a crowded Mother's Day Weekend. My son-in-law Lloyd and grandson Michael would join me on Friday. The CG had just opened on April 29 and will not start reserving sites until May 15 so all the campsites were first-come-first-serve for this weekend. Arriving at about 11:00 am I was surprised to find a large number of sites still available and the CG never completely filled up over the weekend. The campsites and vault toilet restrooms were well maintained by a company contracted by the Forest Service.
After settling into Campsite #4 and taking a short drive to check on other camping areas I started off on the WC Lake Trail making it a clockwise loop starting and ending at my campsite which probably contributed to the slightly longer distance than the official track. The temps were perfect for this sunny afternoon hike and the trail provides great views of the lake. The official HAZ gps track for this hike follows a route marked by blue diamonds tacked to tree trunks. It bypasses the Rocky Pt day-use area but an alternative route which goes through the day-use area and follows a trail along the shore cuts some distance off the route and gives better close up views of the shore line. On this day I took the official HAZ route, with an exception noted below, but the next day repeated this hike going counter-clockwise with Lloyd and we took the route through the day-use area. While passing around the northwest end of the lake I observed an osprey make 2 dives for fish, the first was unsuccessful but he/she scored on the 2nd pass about 15 minutes later. Unfortunately my camera was still closed up in its case so didn't get photos of it.
I discovered that a section of the official trail which leaves the lake shore following an old road to cross the big peninsula across from the launch ramp was closed to protect a bald eagle nesting site. I don't remember the exact closure dates but think it continues through most of the summer. However an alternate route which hugs the shoreline to bypass this area is allowed following fishermen trails and in my opinion is more scenic.
Overall the trail is in good shape with maybe a few easily bypassed fallen trees. It makes for an easy trek with scenic views of the lake which was full to within an inch of the spillway on the dam. This allowed for a dry crossing of the spillway. Fisherpersons I checked with along the trail were mostly successful although patience seemed to be the major factor in their success. |
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