Arrived at Bowman Lake Area off I-80 near Cisco City from Lakes Basin this morning. Passed several junctions to lakes and trails on the way to Bowman Lake. Very pretty lake a couple of miles long. It's now on my gonnados. Continued beside the lake and the road became interesting as it skirted sheer walls, became quite rocky and narrowed in several places.
Went all the way to Jackson Meadows Reservoir and Recreation Area. Not much to the lake. Turned up the Meadows Lake road on the way back but ran into bad road at 3 miles and had to turn back. Catfish Lake is a small but pretty lake on that road and I camped there for the night.
09/23/03 Paddling Bowman Lake (5 miles round trip):
It has really been hot, even at 6000 feet the past couple of wind when the sun is pounding down on you and there's no wind. In the 100's in the valleys and 80's up here.
Put in at the west end of Bowman Lake after backing down the narrow, rocky road. Sparsely forested rock slopes rise up 500-700 feet all around the lake. Several islands and points with a few trees on them add to the scenery. The south side is the prettier of the sun but early morning sun made it difficult to see and take photos.
A leisurely paddle brought me to the far end of the lake in under an hour. Here the Jackson Creek tumbles into the lake. I stopped and played in some small standing waves, surfing, peeling out, ferrying, etc.
09/24/03 Hiking Five Lakes Basin Trail (12 miles round trip):
This morning got off to a rousing start. While having breakfast I looked up to see a large black bear strolling through a small clearing 150 feet away. He was the largest black bear I have seen and surely was a fully developed male. He also had a fair amount of brown through his coat.
60's this morning at 8:30am and 6700 feet at the trailhead. The guide said go down the road, cross a creek, etc. so I did. Unfortunately it was the wrong road and the wrong creek. I wandered around through small manzanitas and chaparral before giving up.
I found the correct road and 1/4 mile down the trail I entered the Grouse Lakes Basin Area. This region has many small lakes and I got to see a few of them today. I passed Carr Lake, a pretty, 1 acre lake, then Feely Lake a longer lake and also pretty. I found a trail junction beside Feely Lake and took the unsigned right fork to a crest above Island Lake.
Island Lake is supposed to be one of the prettiest lakes in the region, nestled in amongst granite hills. Farther on I passed a couple of other lakes.
I had a stiff climb ahead to Sand Ridge and an overlook of Five Lakes Basin but didn't feel up to it so I turned back.
09/25/03 Hiking Crooked Lakes Trail (6 miles round trip):
Followed yesterday's hike until I came to the trail junction beside Feely Lake. This time I took the left signed fork to Crooked Lakes Trail. It led between Feely and Island Lake.
A mile or so later after I'd climbed a crest I could see some of the crooked lakes These are tucked in amongst granite hills on all signs. Sparse pines scattered here and there made this whole scene quite attractive.
Climbing another crest presented my first view of Penner Lake. This lake too is surrounded by granite walls although these are more a pinkish color. Pines are all scattered around the lake.