Monday, March 12, 2012

Brainard Lake, Part II

Click here for Part I.

The wind had carved patterns in the snow near Mitchell Lake that had then frozen in place, giving an illusion of permanence that the beaming sun was eventually bound to erase.

Pawnee Peak and Mt. Toll.

Mt. Audubon with what I thought was Mitchell Lake at its base. But upon looking at a map of the area later the body of water seems actually to have just been a little pond to the east of the actual lake, which was probably just over that berm in the middle distance. I thought it seemed a tad small to be a lake.

Yes, more dead wood.

Here you apparently have permission to go both up and down, presumably when there's less snow.

I'll say this for the Brainard Lake Snowshoe Trail: It's extremely well marked.

Given that Brainard Lake was still frozen over, I was a little surprised to see the creek leading away from it flowing so freely.

I stuck to the road on my way back to my car to save a little time. Not as scenic, but definitely faster.

No wildlife sightings other than a couple of squirrels, a couple of Gray Jays and some crows.

I tried to take home a souvenir, but it wouldn't fit in my car.

I was really happy to do the eight-mile trip in just 4:30. Seems like a great place to bring the family and Ginny back in the summer just to enjoy the lake -- no hiking required!

No comments: