High Lakes Trail - Lake of the Woods

August 28, 2015

The month of August has not been friendly to hikers here in Southern Oregon. It seems that for most of the month there have been fires north, south, east and west of us and temperatures in the 90's or higher to go with the smoke.  A recent story we read stated that Southern Oregon has not had one continuous 24-hour period with "good" air quality since the end of July.  So as the last days of August were counting down we headed to Lake of the Woods to give our legs a much needed stretch on some hiking trails.

In addition to hiking trails, Lake of the Woods features cabins, campgrounds, a restaurant and store, plus many specials nights or activities which make a great place for the family.  If you have not been there yet, be sure and check it out sometime.

A panoramic view of Lake of the Woods.  The gray haze is from smoke.

We started our visit by hiking back through the day use area and past the campgrounds to the High Lakes trail.  This trail connects Lake of the Woods to Fish Lake and can be used by hikers and bikers.  The trail itself is easy to follow, wide and also pretty flat the entire distance.

Start of the High Lakes trail

Nice wide and easy High Lakes trail.

 As we starting hiking we got a see an Osprey perched at the top of a dead tree.  Evidently sushi was on it's menu for the day.  Although there was smoke surrounding the area, we didn't notice it throughout our hike. Part way to Fish Lake we took a break and then hiked back to Lake of the Woods.  We saw a few flowers still blooming along the trail as well as some ugly fungi stuff of which Glenn took pictures.

Marsh area of the lake near the start of the trail

Ugly gross looking fungi thing.

Aster still in bloom

Pretty flower, not sure of the variety.

Once back at Lake of the Woods we spent the day relaxing & reading along the lake shore.  Katie enjoyed multiple dips in the lake as well as rolling in the dirt, rocks, pine needles and bark.  She really likes the idea of being out in the wild and getting dirty!

Who is a dirty dog -- not me!!!

In the late afternoon the winds picked up and blew away the smoke and brought sunny skies to the area.  So before leaving we took another hike which covered part of the Family Loop trail and Great Meadow trail.  Even though this was a short 1-hour hike, we got to see a Pileated Woodpecker, Gray Jays and deer.

View of Lake of the Woods after the wind blew away the smoke......

Our spot by the lake

So as August fades we are looking forward to September and the arrival of Autumn.  We hope to get out and hike during that colorful yet short time of year and as always, we'll look forward to sharing that with you.

Trekking Together
Glenn & Carol

P.S.  Since Katie pictures seem to be pretty popular, we've included a few extras from this trip to Lake of the Woods for your viewing pleasure.