Hike coordinator: Lane Harris
Narration by Lane Harris
First off, I’d like to thank Diane Rannow for willing to lead this hike and putting it on the hike schedule. Unfortunately, she suffered an injury as was unable to make this hike, so I volunteered to lead it in her stead. And I’m so glad I did, as this turned out to be an outstanding fall hike! I just wish Diane could’ve been there 😕
Twin Lakes is a very popular place and is quite busy in the summer. The easy hike in draws many backpackers to the shores of these two lakes. However, on this crisp October day, not another soul was around as the eight of us started the short hike in. Right away, we were treated with vine maple showing off lively fall colors.
In no time at all we were at the shelter by the eastern lake and proceeded to hike counterclockwise around the lakes. Aside from the lush greenery, the trail leads hikers through boulder strewn landscapes, no doubt created eons ago, originating from the looming cliffs high above the lakes to the south. The overlook above these cliffs was our next destination.
The route to the overlook involved partly retracing our steps back to the junction; one path would take us back to our vehicles, the other up to the overlook. Of course, we went up!
The trail makes a gentle climb as it ascends towards forest-covered Twin Lakes Mountain. The trail will eventually spit hikers out at the end of forest service road 530, but the overlook is about ¼ mile before that. The overlook is an obvious choice for lunch, so that’s what we did! After taking in northern views of the surrounding landscape, we made the easy trek back down to the trailhead.
Many of us noted that we had never hiked this trail this late in the year, and that maybe with the bright autumn colors we should add this to our list of fall hikes to choose from!
Pictures below by Lane Harris
