Way back in August I climbed Humpback Mountain and found the trail to Scout Lake. Two weeks later I tried to take the girls (and Grandpa Jack) to the lake, but got rained out. I had intended to take Clara camping there, but instead wound up in the back yard.
Still, the lake was too close to turn away. I had hoped to head up to Lake Lillian, but the weather and the prospect of going solo changed my mind. So at 9:30am I left home for the short drive to the trailhead.
The "trail" is really an old logging road for the first long half mile. It's also apparently a creek bed. The heavy rains of the last few days had also melted the snow of the week before turning the normally dry road into a disaster. Thankfully, once I got to the end of the logging road the real trail began.
The trail drops down to cross Hansen Creek... twice. Huh? Why cross and then cross back? No good reason. Cha! To make matters worse Tokul decided her best bet was to wade the creek and then get stuck in the devil's club garden. Dork.
The trail climbs slowly through mature forest. Portions of the trail were blocked by blowdowns forcing us to climb over or scramble under. Even more of the trail was submerged requiring us to break trail around the new waterways.
Near the lake the trees opened up exposing a moss-covered talus field with the sound of water rushing underneath. Ahead we could see the clearing that was home to the lake. The trail disappeared under water so we started a counter-clockwise route around the lake.
Much of the west shore is talus. The first part caused little problem for Tokul. On a little knoll we found a shelter built out of the talus. The walls were about three feet high and there was room for a small tent inside. I kept looking for a comfortable spot for a tent so that perhaps next year I could go with Clara, but all the way around I had little luck. The other side looked better, but not by much. We did find a couple of fire pits so clearly others had camped, but nothing that looked too comfortable.
The lake was partially iced over. Tokul tried to swim a bit, but the ice threw her for a loop. At the south end of the lake a stream emerged from beneath the talus and kept the water ice free.
Back at the outlet I was worried we would have trouble crossing the outlet, but it was so spread out there were no issues. Same for the walk down. At the double creek crossing we found an easier way by following the stream straight down instead of crossing. It would work equally well going to the lake.
Total mileage was about 3.2 miles and 1,120 feet of gain.
