Eleven hikers came out to hike along the Applegate Lake. We started at the French Gulch Trailhead on the Payette trail.
Leslie spotted a big Osprey nest and she told me where to look for it. Something made me look the other direction and I saw a large bird in a tree. I zoomed in my phone camera and the bird looked to have a white head. Barry and Leslie said if it were a Bald Eagle, it would be a small one. It took off and we could see the wings and knew it was an Osprey.
We continued along the Payette Trail and it started to rain so we stopped to do a wardrobe adjustment. We were relieved that the rain only lasted for a short time. As we hiked along, we could see that some fish were jumping in the very low Applegate Lake. I am not sure I have ever seen the water level this low.
We headed across Teel Creek and came to our lunch spot at Harr Point Campground or as our group calls it, Hal’s Point. We were lucky to have the sun come out from behind the clouds and warm us up. We enjoyed each other’s company and I passed out more chocolate from the big jar I received as a Christmas gift.
We headed back around and tried to connect to the Osprey Trail. There is no sign so finding the right place can be confusing.
We did a short bushwhack up the side of the hill. I remember that we had to do something similar last year. We continued up to the Dagelma Trailhead and enjoyed seeing many mushrooms. One that was new to the group. Leslie looked it up and found out it was Craterellus Cornucopioides or Horn of Plenty and is an edible mushroom. It is also known as the black chanterelle, black trumpet, trompette de la mort (French) or Trumpet of the Dead, djondjon (Hairtian)” [1]
We continued back to the Payette trail and then to our cars by 2:30 PM.
1. Wikipedia https://g.co/kgs/TGbXiJo
Francie
Hike Date: 2024-01-03
