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| Hiking | 8.42 Miles |
1,848 AEG |
| | Hiking | 8.42 Miles | 5 Hrs 48 Mns | | 1.69 mph |
| 1,848 ft AEG | 49 Mns Break | | | |
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| no partners | | Weather forecast showed chance of showers along the rim, so I carried a windbreaker with a hood to be prepared. Arriving at the trailhead at the Hatchery it was sunny and warm, so coming prepared once again changed the weather. The top of the rim looks very high from the trailhead, especially considering it's less than two miles of trail. The trail is pretty steep, but unlike the Promontory Butte trail that we did a couple weeks ago it's pretty decent footing and much easier despite similar elevation profile. That's a relief! The steep hike up was in the sun and worked up a sweat. Lots of lizards on the trail. The views along the trail were great with no tall trees blocking the view. It didn't take too long before we reached the top.
At the top we were in a pine forest with mostly medium sized trees. No real tall ones. Passed a woman with a dog heading back down. They had been trying to get to Knoll Lake but took a wrong turn and gave up. I recommended the Route Scout app to her and explained that not only does it let you download a map of your route to your phone, but it also warns you if you get too far off the route. She thanked me and we continued on. There were definitely spots where the trail faded out, and it helped having multiple people to figure out the right way to go. We managed to stay on the trail and Route Scout didn't have to warn us.
As we approached the road we started hearing gunshots which was a little unnerving. Through the trees we could make out people at a pickup truck at a turnout not far from the trail doing the shooting. We made some noise to let them know that hikers were passing through. They didn't acknowledge us, but they didn't shoot us either so that's a win. Crossing the road the trees are much older and larger. The trail crosses streams that were flowing with water a few times. We also saw a few patches of snow which was a little surprising.
We stopped to let a couple of hikers going the other direction pass us just before reaching the lake, and it turned out to be a large group of about maybe 20 people. When we got to the lake we had the place to ourselves! Knoll Lake is super pretty! We walked around the short clockwise around the lake and found a nice spot next to the water for lunch. From there we could see other people setting up a campsite across the lake from us, a guy fishing in an inflatable boat, a handful of kayakers, and a group with several kids fishing from the shore. Even though we could now see other people, they were far enough away not to take away from the feeling of privacy on the shore. I really enjoyed the beauty of the place and look forward to coming back again. |
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