Sunday, July 26, 2009

Saw a Lynx!

Drove up to the Van Vleck trail head again. This time we stopped at the ranger station on Ice House road and the map they had posted showed Shadow Lake almost 5 miles from the trailhead. It's 2 miles from where the trail turns off the Highland Lakes trail the intersection of which is about 2.5 miles from the trail head gate. Ah ha!

It was pretty hot and the mosquitos were still pretty fierce so I wore long sleeves and long pants and slathered on the DEET.

We headed up the Red Lake trail as I wanted to stop at the Bassi Creek crossing and soak in the creek and read a bit before turning back. About 1/2 mile from the start Commando started a lynx and they both ran across the trail and into the woods before he came back with his tongue hanging out. The lynx was as big as he was and I'm glad they didn't mix it up. I'd brought the squeaky toy for a recall and it seemed to work very well.

Although there were a lot of parked cars we didn't see anyone until we got to the Bassi Creek crossing. I briefly chatted with two guys coming down and we saw some mountain bikers splashing in the creek.

We ate our lunch although the mosquitos were so fierce I can't say I enjoyed it much. I got thoroughly wet wading around the creek so was cooler on the trip back.

It was a good hike and this is a fascinating area to explore.

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