Cecelia and I escaped to Crystal Lake yesterday afternoon. We ate lunch at the Cafe, then found a shady spot by the lake to relax and watch the fishermen not catch anything. The contrasting blue and green water looked neat with a mountain backdrop. The lake level seemed nearly full. A funny-looking bee systematically mounted every flower in our chosen spot. And a fat rattlesnake slowly crawled along the bank with something bulging in its belly.
We got our fill of the lake and returned to the Cafe for ice cream. Then we hit up the Soldier Creek Trail, which is in fine shape.
Water sprang out of the rocks just beyond the junction with the Pinyon Ridge Trail.
Some big trees line this route, and a few are dead. I wouldn't want to be the one clearing them off the trail once they fall.
At the creek crossing someone built a little log fort--or maybe it's a jail.
I was a bit surprised by how much water is still flowing along this trail so late into summer. We returned via the Cedar Canyon Trail, which is slightly shorter than Soldier Creek but steeper.
Cedar Canyon also has water flowing beside it, and there is one tree down across the trail. The path spits you out on the road just below the Cafe, so we had to walk a short distance back to the car. I had parked at the Amphitheater, so we quickly checked that out before calling it a day and driving home.
Crystal Lake & Soldier Creek
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Sean
- Cucamonga
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HikeUp
- Posts: 4024
- Joined: Thu Sep 27, 2007 9:21 pm
Nice bit of water still!
I like this map of the area...does it still look accurate with what you saw?
I like this map of the area...does it still look accurate with what you saw?
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Nate U
- Posts: 533
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Looking forward to hopefully traversing this area in a couple weeks or so! Terrain looks inviting.
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Uncle Rico
- Posts: 1477
- Joined: Thu Mar 20, 2008 7:48 pm
Wow. When was the last time Crystal Lake was full? I don't recall ever seeing it that way.