Kathy, Skye and I braved the 100 degree heat this week and camped with the RPod trailer at the Clearwater Crossing Campground up Fish Creek staying 3 nights. The goal was to visit Kid, South Cedar Log and Crater Lakes, however Crater Lake was a no go. We left on Wednesday afternoon with the hope of a bit cooler weather at the campsite and stateline country. We ended up with highs right at 93 degrees and lows between 48 & 53 degrees at the campground and in the low 80's on the stateline which is still hot for the high country. On Wednesday evening we met an all woman (6) trailcrew at the campground working for the Montana Conservation Corps and Ninemile Ranger District. You go girls!!! They were heading back up into one of the drainages the next day for a few days. I worked on a trail crew one summer out of Stehekin, WA. for the park service, it was always hard work.
Thursday morning found us heading up Surveyor Creek to the trailhead, the road hasn't changed much. Still rougher than hell in the upper sections. It was 55 degrees at the far trailhead. The day was a mixed bag as Kathy was having real trouble (pain) with her surgically repaired ankle from a few years ago and it became apparent that she would never make the steep drop into the North (Big) Cedar Log Lake. I don't like splitting up but that is what we decided to do. Kathy found a shady spot to take a long break. She would wait 30-45 minutes and then head back to the truck, while I continued on to Cedar Log and Kid Lakes. This altered my day as I originally planned on staying at the lakes a bit longer but I hustled along so Kathy didn't have to sit at the trailhead very long.
The trail (right fork) to the South Cedar Log Lake after the split, with the left heading down to Kid Lake and beyond, is quite brushy in spots but is level and mostly easy going until you get to the end of the old road. There is a good spring about halfway along this stretch if your dogs are getting thirsty. It is a steep 500 foot drop into the Cedar Log Lake and the un-maintained trail doesn't disappoint. It is not as steep as the drop into Square Lake but is not a cakewalk, it is about 15 minutes down to the lake. The trail ends near the lake in a rather swampy area where a misstep will get you almost knee deep in the muck. On the other side of this area is a nice open area along the shore and a large campsite. The bugs were bad enough for me to put on some repellant and also Skye's repellant. I have always found this lake to have lots of bugs, until after Labor Day. We stayed for a half hour to take some pictures, get Skye a cooling swim and eat half my lunch; and then it was back up the hill. When I was in my 20's I could make this climb in 15 minutes, but now it is a solid 30 minutes. I spent a couple minutes at the top to recover and then it was on to Kid Lake.
Instead of heading back the way I came in, I headed directly down the hill to Kid Lake. There used to be a trail linking the saddle with Kid Lake, but like many old trails it was not really there anymore. I thought I found it several times but was constantly disappointed and ended up just bushwacking down the hill to Kid Lake. The hike down was not bad at all. I hiked around the shoreline to the other side of the lake taking some pictures along the way. We then had the rest of our lunch and took a bit of a break with Skye taking another swim. I pushed hard back to the trailhead and Kathy in under an hour. This trailhead is one of the worst ones for biting flies. Anymore, I just throw my pack in the truck and drive out to the gate to change and not deal with the flies and mosquitos. At the gate we met a gal coming in with a WSU truck. She was working on her dissertation and was looking to find some heritage sites in the area.
Friday found us lounging around camp; Kathy nursing her ankle and myself recovering from one of my forced marches in the heat. It was good until around 11 and the bugs really came out. We spent some time in the trailer with the AC. We ended up driving down to the Forks Campground after lunch and hitting the creek there. There is a nice hole under the bridge. Back at the campground the bugs disappeared when it hit 90 and came back later when it got a bit cooler. Not a lot of traffic on Friday or Saturday AM. The girls from the trailcrew said the crossing was overrun during the 4th of July weekend.
