Day 7

I was up early again, to find the mist over the water and nothing but the sound of the squawking birds that had woke us up every day we had been at camp.

The mist ...

And the birds ...

I took some pictures, started the coffee and made a fast breakfast before waking Dar up for the day. While eating breakfast we again had ducks for company. While I did up the dishes, Dar relaxed with her morning coffee. After breakfast we headed out for another day on the trails. This time it was going to be Track and Tower.

Breakfast preparations ...

We spent the morning working our way through the first part of the trail, taking the time to check out all the tracks Dar was finding. I was very surprised to see how busy the first half of the trail is in the summer. We came across people hiking the trail and some people that had canoed in, just to have lunch at a rocky area with a small waterfall. Once we got farther into the trail the people started to thin out until we got to the bottom of the lookout.

Getting the trail guide ...

Along the trail ...

"You are here" ...

One long staircase ...

We spent our time up at the lookout where there was a great breeze and I wish we had taken a lunch. After the lookout, we started making our way back out on the trail. After the stairs, we walked along the old railway bed to a small stream were we found a small school of minnows that would swarm my walking pole every time I put it in the water.

Swarming minnows ...

We came across a young family and another couple at a three-way in the pass. The other couple and family had been lost, as we all came from different ways yet we were all heading back to the parking lot. The others had only brought the trail guild book and the park paper for maps that didn’t show this three-way on the trail. I pointed the others in the right ways they wanted to go, the GPS paid off! And we started off again.

Once we came to Grant Lake, we had to stop and take a break. It wasn’t till this point that we realized how tired we had gotten and how long the trail really was. After resting, we headed out the rest of the way. And since I had made reservations at the Killarney Lodge, to give Dar the night off, we needed to make some time. We got back to camp and cleaned up as best we could with the time we had and headed over to the lodge. The food was great, as we sat in the lodge eating and talking while the humming birds came and went at the feeder outside the window. This would be another day we would not soon forget.

Day 8

I woke up on the last day in the park and started a fire. I made some coffee while I waited for Dar to get up. Dar was not in any hurry to get up, like on any trip, because she knew this was the day to pack up and leave. We had breakfast over the open fire and more coffee while the ducks started showing up for a good bye of their own.

Last fire of the trip ...

We broke camp and packed the van while wishing we had more time to stay in the park. Just before noon we pulled into the Hemlock Trail parking lot and headed out for a hike.

Jake Lake below ...

Checking out the edge ...

Dar was happily checking out the edge of the look out, I think she likes giving me heart problems as she did this every chance she got, at the waters edge around Jake Lake.

Once more to the edge ...

At the end of the trail ...

The big map ...

But all things must come to an end and we headed out to the next stop, home. After getting back to the city we found that someone else had stopped by to say good bye but it took the dust and dirt of the city to show us who, Mr. Raccoon had walked all over the van the night before leaving.

Night visitor's print ...

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