Today I am with my BAS meet up group Hiking with four other individuals on the Jenkinson Lake Loop
The trail has been beautiful at the beginning with lots of foliage and a few flowers. We are treated to a family of geese swimming just off shore.
We have reached the waterfall. It is artificially created and fed by a diversion channel which cuts through the mountain to fill this lake.
We’ve met up with Eric and Cindy, who are normal members of our hiking group but needed to get an early start today. They decided to go clockwise and we went counterclockwise in order to meet up.
We cross a sturdy bridge and then take a quick side trip to view the waterfall from the opposite shore.
A message board gives a quick history of the lake
Up to the right just above our hiking trail is a horse trail. I heard a little noise, looked up and saw eight horses walking along with their riders.
We are close to the midpoint of our hike, so we stopped for lunch at a day use area with a pretty view of the lake. The horse riders stopped as well, and we learned that they were actually mules.
After lunch, we walked down short boardwalk to a lake overview that offers beautiful unobstructed views
Leaving our lunch site, the trail is fairly exposed in the sun. We make a little turn across a small stream and come into an area filled with the Common Bracken Fern. It is a beautiful little scenery change.
We’ve come across a large grouping of butterflies, feeding in a moist spot of the dirt
Just off the shore is a small grouping of trees on this isolated island
We cross a small stream over a foot bridge. Th water is slowly flowing and has a calming sound.
As we come around the far end of the lake, we have a couple ducks sunbathing themselves on a log
As we approach the boat docks, there are a few more islands in the lake that offer good picture.
We have reached the foot of the lake and hike up to the road to cross the first dam The spillway passes under the roadway here. It is neat to watch the water as it gets to the edge and drops down into the release channel.
We popped back up on the trail for a short distance and then again dropped to the roadway for crossing the second dam. We continue on the roadway, a short distance more to where we parked on the shoulder just ahead.
We had a beautiful hike around the lake. The weather was good and the trail was very nice. We traveled a total of 9 miles.
