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Marten Lake
April 13, 2003
Marten Lake
Still covered with several feet of wet snow in mid April, Marten Lake sits at almost 3,000 feet off the Middle Fork road.
With heavy rain falling, but the absence of Amy and Clara at home John decided it was important to get out for a hike. Dan is out with shoulder surgery so John and Tokul headed to the end of the Middle Fork road in search of Marten Lake.
The trail is easy to find for the first two miles. It's really just the continuation of the old Lake Dorothy road that's now closed to traffic. Just before Marten Creek crashes under an old bridge there's a seldom-used track that heads up the hill. Starting elevation: 1,800 feet.
The way up is slick with decomposing pine needles and most of the "trail" is actually stepping up the root-based staircase made by a tributary to Marten Creek. By the time the two got into the snow at 2,300 feet it was clear this would be more of a slog than originally expected. After a minor mix-up finding the trail (well, the right trail, anyway) they made it through five feet of snow at the lake to behold it in all its splendor. Of course it was far too cold at 3,000 feet to stick around so they high-tailed it back down the hill with only a few slips and slides along the way.
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