Clayton Lake - Fishing!

It was going to be a hot day, the forecast said almost 90... what to do? Of course we still wanted to hike but it would be way too hard on our dog, Ron, in those temps. So we searched around for a lake... there are plenty that you can drive to but that isn't terribly appealing to us and would probably be very busy on such a hot day. Skimming over topo maps I noticed one just about 2/3 miles out from a trail head over by the Hungry Horse Reservoir, it looked like a decent size too. Having not spent much time hiking in that area yet I was excited and the hike sure didn't disappoint!

The hike is short, roughly 2.6 miles to hit the lake.

Leaving late morning the temps had already hit 70's in town. From South Kalispell it took almost two hours to get to the trail head, it got warmer the whole time, of course. At the shady trail head the thermometer read 77 dergrees.

On this particular day my roommate was going to float the river, thus leaving her pup without anything to do. We decided to bring him along to have a fun time as well, better yet he just so happens to be a wonderfully behaved dog.

Check out that handsome devil!

The hike in begins very mellow and flat, there's a ton of water on the way. Hitting small streams every quarter mile or so was a wonderful thing for this scorching day!

We were stopping every quarter to half mile in shade spots to give the dogs water and cool them down. There was a wonderful breeze every so often that couldn't have felt better on this day.

About a mile in the climb begins, it's a pretty gradual incline and there are plenty of switch backs. You're also greeted by the views an open uphill climb provides.

Rest break!

Another

And even more resting!

Now those are some Hot Dogs! Too corny?

Moving on...

Nice big creek! Aaah, the water is so cool and refreshing. Ron, however, was not keen at all to cross. The water was clipping along pretty quickly so I will admit that we caved and carried him part of the way across.

I can tell you that if you've never been to Montana, you're probably missing out. Even the less scenic hikes here can wow you!

 Yay for snow!

The lake is close and I can tell the dogs are getting excited.

The heat dissipates as you hit the lake, feels like 70 instead of 80 and the lake is COLD.

Oh ya, that's what I'm talking about! Look at this lake. This day we set out on a mission to find a good, cold lake and get some fishing in. Boy did we, we ended up spending about 7/8 hours at the lake. We enjoyed the dogs, got wet in the water, lost several lures, and of course fished.

 









The dogs had grand time and by the end of that day little Ron was finding any log or rock close to us and napping.

 




Caught a few keepers.

We'll definitely be coming back here to camp, the spots are terrific.

Evening sun at the lake.

The trail makes a loop around the lake.

Great hike, even better lake. I would highly recommend even for the less physically inclined. What seems really wild to me is that we didn't see anyone else the whole day! 

You can bet I'll be back at this lake ;)

Tired pups say, until next time happy trails!

For a full album with even MORE photos, Click Here

Crater Lake

Today we set off on a bit of a longer endeavor than last time... a 12 mile trek to Crater Lake. This hike begins at the main Jewel Basin Trail head which is pretty heavily trafficked and then technically goes out of the Jewel. 

 




We got started on an old road so it was very wide open, there were patches of snow here and there.





About a mile in you'll come up to where the trail splits of too several trails. You can head to Mount Aeneas, Picnic Lakes, or just about anywhere in the Jewel Basin for that matter.

This trip was so beautiful that the only way to truly express the trip is visually using photos, so there's gonna be many of them an fewer words.

Just a few miles in you hit a high point where you can gaze into the valley and look down on Martha Lake.

  




You can easily see straight to the bottom of the lake, it also has a waterfall going in to it but I wasn't able to capture that splendor using my phone... guess you'll have to go see for yourself! 



















More patchy snow along the trail... Ron loved snacking on it!

About 3 Miles in now and behold Birch Lake! It's a very large lake and the trail to Crater follows right along the whole shore of it.

Watch out though, use insect repellent on you AND your pet. There are black flies in this area, their bite is very irritating and they can hang on to your pets belly for some time if you don't catch it. Those of you who are also equestrians are likely very familiar with the little buggers.





 




With the summer being very mellow up to this point in the year, there was still plenty of snow on the way there! It required a lot of exhausting side hilling in the snow and to be perfectly honest, it got pretty old after the 3rd or 4th mile of it!









We did end up losing the trail at a couple of points due to all the snow, it was nearly impossible to tell where it was. We climbed some rocks and looked out over beautiful views though!

We found a spot for lunch!

Trail food... it always tastes so good because after all the work you're starving!


Overall the trail isn't very difficult, there's no really significant elevation change and I'm sure that without the snow it would have been pretty mellow... If you do happen to go at a time when there is snow make sure to have ice cleats and trekking poles at the very least or I really wouldn't recommend it. It was not easy!

There were several points after Birch that we were able to see the trail, most of it was washed out from all the snow melt.

There was a waterfall by Squaw Lake coming right across the trail. Refreshing as well as visually pleasing!

 Squaw Lake

Did I mention all the snow?!

We're about 5 miles in now, a storm hit and the rain was coming down so we took shelter in some trees to let it pass... Ron was looking a little tired at this point so we decided it was time for him to take a little  ride!
 

 And off we go!

There's a short descend to the lake on a pretty small trail with all kinds of rocks and brush.

To see the full album from this trip click here.

 

The lake was even better than I'd imagined! There was almost no snow in the area surrounding it.

Trail conquered!

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Until next time, Happy Trails!