Miles today: 19

Trail miles sum: 1243.3

Trail location: 1925.6

Elevation: 5811

Spinning on the turntable: Yann Tiersen: EUSA

Today was a low mileage day to wrap up my week. The lower miles allowed Noelle and I to meet in the afternoon and spend the night in the van.

I really enjoyed hiking next to the lakes this morning. It feels like home!

The lakes today were everything that the lakes yesterday were not.

I made a mental note to return to these lakes with Noelle for some relaxed camping and fishing.

There were lots of tents near the lakes and a mix of thru-hikers and weekend hikers. Well this is my assumption based on the fires burning at some sites and the smell of frying bacon in the air.

I snapped a bunch of pictures and moved on. I like the steam rising from the water.

I pondered why I enjoyed the hike today more than the hike yesterday. I think I prefer the taller trees and soft trail of today. The trail yesterday was a lot of sand. The lakes today were gorgeous. The lakes yesterday (3 of 4) looked like large cattle watering zones (to me).

I stopped at a ski cabin that was built and currently maintained by volunteers.

In the winter snow skiers, snowmobiles, etc can use the cabin for free.

I signed the logbook and ate a banana. I like all the hangers hanging from the rafters. I can imagine this cabin in the dead of winter with the stove roaring and jackets hanging to dry.

I saw this bird sitting in a tree.

It may be a Spruce Grouse. It was the size of a medium turkey, about 8lbs to my eye. Any birders know definitively what this breed might be?

I stopped for a early lunch near Bobby lake and this little bird decided that it wanted my sandwich. This is the first time I’ve experienced a bird quite this aggressive about stealing food.

I’m guessing that folks are rewarding the aggressive behavior with treats and reinforcing the aggressive behavior. Aggressive or not, I enjoyed it immensely.

Two more birds hovered on a tree above my head while I continued to eat.

I hiked back to the van and arrived by 2:30. I promptly took a two hour nap. Tomorrow I’m going to knock out 27 miles so the extra sleep is a good thing.