Icehouse Reservoir Loop

Today I am with six other people for a hike around Icehouse Reservoir. There is evidently a new trail here that goes by some creeks that have some good water features in the spring. Today’s hike is an explanatory one to plan a route for later in the year, possibly snow shoes or during spring Runoff. We stopped for our first group picture on the shoreline with a beautiful grove of Aspen’s behind us. The trees are turning a bright yellow and golden color with the fall temperature change. They’re in a grove with a number of mature Pine’s giving a beautiful color mix between greens and yellows

This rock has a large crack and chunk out of it, resembling a king’s throne, a perfect seat.

We met at the boat ramp, and departed, hiking along the shoreline, partially up in the trees. We have come to the dam at the far end of the lake. After crossing it we will pick up the new section of Trail. 

The water level is fairly low in the reservoir. Looking down on the riverside we still see a fair amount of water flowing through the discharge. 

After crossing the dam, we turned to the right and head away from the lake before winding around and climbing up the far side of the hillside of the lake. Towards the top of the hill, we passed another beautiful Grove of Aspen at a higher elevation that are all golden and framed beautifully by the Pines. 

Looking out in the other direction over Manzanita, we can see the dam below us and the lake. They have some heavy equipment out here working on the spillway, which is why the lake level is so low. From this elevated position looking down at the lake, I have a good picture of the pine tree reflection, always something I love to see as the landscape is mirrored in the water. 

I looked over to my side and saw a tree stump with a couple varieties of fungi growing on it. I love their deep Golden color and varied shapes. 

One advantage of the lower lake level is the ridges that appear on the shoreline from the water slowly lapping and eroding the sides. I like the way the rocks appear on the bare Lakeside as well.

We’ve come to our first small foot bridge which has been newly constructed.

Dori (with the hat) and Robin are two of our hikers taking a brief stop to drop a layer of clothing as it warms up. You may remember Dori was on the desert Southwest trip from my last group of posts. Robin, I have only hiked with once before. 

If you follow many of my posts, you’ll know that the large granite outcroppings that seemingly come out of nowhere are one of the things I enjoy observing. 

Moss, another one of the features in nature that I enjoy observing. I like the different colors on rocks and the trees, and the way it can grow in such an inhospitable environment. 

The inlet side of the reservoir has two large fingers reaching into the valley. As we cross these two newly constructed bridges we round the first finger.

Dave is one of the regulars on our hiles. Mark, in the orange hat, has joined us a few times.

We’ve come to an area that’s somewhat flat where they’ve removed much of the trees for the reservoir. It makes an interesting landscape. 

We’ve come across a brand new day area with some picnic tables that were a great setting to stop for lunch. Although not pictured, we had a bald eagle sore past us as we ate.

As we continue along, we cross another bridge towards the top finger of the lake. We have a little bit more up to go.

We’ve reached the headwaters that feed the reservoir we’re going to have to pick our way across the rocks to the other side to continue on towards the cars

Once we cross the rocks, we have a fairly steep slope to scramble up. Definitely a fun part of the hike for me.

I love flexibility when outdoors. We have chosen to take a side trip upstream, looking for more of the pools and reported waterfalls that may be in the area.

What a fantastic treat continuing up.  We come to large smooth slabs of granite with water cascading over them and some small waterfalls

Another testament to the power of nature and water; we have this large rock with a hole worn through its center smooth on all surfaces

The granite slabs are extremely slippery, but as we traverse along, them we can continue to see further upstream with more cascades.  Truly beautiful!

Sometimes I like ducking into little rock alcoves or climbing up above the trail onto a little ledge and watch the group go by. I found a log just big enough for me to squeeze into, but to get all the way in I would have to takeoff my pack, but it was fun scooting into it.

We’ve turned around and are heading back downstream. This has been an especially a beautiful portion of the hike. I’m really glad we took the small detour.

As we continue back towards the cars, we are on a paved section of road that passes by multiple campgrounds. We still have a beautiful view of the lake, but the trail itself is not nearly as nice.

We arrive back at the cars with 10.3 miles in hiking behind us. I had a great time visiting with some of the others, a beautiful scenery, and fantastic weather.