Almost Spring (Deer Park to Phoenix Lake)

Soaked through clothing to the skin.  Hair plastered against heads.  Raindrops running in rivulets down cheeks, cascading off noses like Olympic ski jumpers flying into the air on the "Big Hill" at Whistler, and dripping off chins onto the ground.  That's what it was like when we met at Deer Park to begin on hike.  Fortunately, the six of us who joined Wendy were nice and dry in our rain duds; it was the "Thirty-Something" women who had just finished running over hill and dale that looked like half-drowned rats that had just jumped off a sinking ship.  While we stood around chatting about our activities during the last week, the rainfall slowed more and more, and by the time we were on the Deer Park Fire Road it had ceased altogether. 

Wendy found a large mushroom on this initial section of the trail reminding us that it was still Winter, while blooming Milkmaids and Hound's Tongue heralded the onset of Spring, "officially" three weeks away. 

At 10:30 we turned south on to the Six Points Trail. Water droplets continued to drip off the tree branches overhanging the trail, forcing us to keep our rainhats on and parka hoods up for a time.  Muddy water roared down the creek and we spotted Scarlet and Golden Waxy caps growing along the trail.

We climbed the steep incline to Six Points where we took a break, doffed some of our outer layers, and drank some water. Theresa made a "picture postcard" of Dick using his iPhone's camera and the strong cell phone signal let him send it on to his wife stuck behind her desk at work.

Clouds continued to boil up around Bald Hill and Mount Tam, releasing brief downpours from time to time as we headed down the Yolanda Trail to Phoenix Lake.  Rock Lettuce grew on outcroppings on the uphill side of the trail.  Lupine and Shooting Stars were among the wildflowers we saw on this section of the trail.  (Click here to see photos from the hike).

Just before 12:30 we passed the ranch manager's home on the former Porteous Ranch and plopped down near the lake to eat lunch.  Two male Mallards duked it out over the right to court a lone female.  Neil kept dry under an umbrella when the occasional shower tried to damped our meal.

Last year when we did this hike there was evidence that MMWD had recently taken steps to stabilize the steep banks on the west side of the Shaver Grade.  This year we could see that those steps were working, channeling water down into the creek on the east side and reducing erosion. A multitude of earthworms appreciated the work; it let them cross the road without being swept back into the downhill stream.

About an hour after leaving Phoenix Lake we ascended over 350 feet in elevation, passed the Five Corners trail junction, and started the All-Downhill-From-Here return to Deer Park.  We saw Red-Shouldered Hawks soaring over the hills as we hiked down the Junction Trail, then found a millipede resting its many weary feet at Oak Tree Junction.  A quarter hour later we were back at our cars and resting our own feet.

(Theresa Fisher's GPS shows that we hiked about 6 miles in a little over four hours.  Here's the Google Earth map that shows our route and the vertical profile showing the "ups and downs" of the hike).