Cook and Green to Lillypad Lake

Monday’s hike up on the PCT from Cook & Green Pass proved to be an excellent way to escape the heat in the Rogue Valley. An early start helps, too, so we started out at 8 am. We came together at the parking area for the Cook & Green TH. At 9:45 it was 66 degrees at 4,730′ with blue skies above and smoke surrounding near and distant peaks.

Three folks were camping by the PCT TH in front of a big white van that carried supplies to refuel the through hikers that came down the Pass. These “Trail Angels” are a welcomed sight for PCT hikers who are finally finishing their long stretch in California and are greeted as they head to Oregon. Our group met 8 through hikers this day on the PCT.

The trail starts out going up through a shady forest then alternates between sunny stretches of reddish rock trails and back into forests. A steady climb of 1,300′ for 2.5 miles brought us to the ridge overlooking Echo Lake.

We had a cooling breeze along the way that at times picked up to 20 mph winds. The wind kept the air clear for good breathing on the trail.

It was another great day for wildflowers and Linda did another terrific job of capturing them with her camera.

The Echo Lake overlook at 5,835′ is our usual lunch spot, but on this day things were a little different. First the updraft from the lake 370′ below was blowing at near 30 mph, then Linda and Jerry decided to go try out the lake and were followed by Randy. Back on top we remaining three decided to move off the overlook and away from the wind and had our lunch.

After lunch I radioed the lake explorers that I would take the other two out to see Lily Pad Lake. The timing worked out well as it’s about another 1.5 miles out to Lily Pad Lake and that gave the Echo crew plenty of time to splash their feet in the muddy lake bottom and take more great flower pics around Echo Lake.

The extra steps out to view Lily Pad Lake gave some 8+ miles RT with a gain of 1,300′ plus.

Back at the parking area by 2 pm, four of us stopped by Boomtown in Jacksonville for refreshments; and to make plans for our next scouting trip to California which hopefully will add another new hike to the AHG schedule.

Hike Leader: Rich Stickle

Photos By: Jerry, Linda, Randy, Rich