Return to Point 8

I wanted to celebrate. Now that Veloyce has a better car for driving back and forth to work, I get to keep the battered old Volvo for myself. I drove out to Draper Lake for a short hike.

Point 8 is one of two portions of the lake area that is under preservation. They saw significant damage back in the days of open off-road vehicle use, so these two areas have a no-wheels policy. To see the shoreline requires hiking or horse-riding. Hiking means walking the horse trails. Whoever is doing the maintenance doesn’t like to cut up huge trees that fall across the old shore trail, but they don’t mind a little light cutting to route around the deadfall.

I started out near the point and walked the horse trail clockwise. The equestrians have kept open a loop that isn’t a long hike, but it felt worth doing. This blossoming tree is not a dogwood, but one that bears a heavenly scent. It’s part of the early spring foliage out here.

While most of the trail was deeply wooded, with lots of scratchy dried underbrush to shred my legs, the eastern side is more open. The soil is sandy with more grasses.

As you can see, it’s still not all that warm. This day was not quite 70°F (21C) and had a pretty cool start, so the bugs weren’t too bad. By the time these grasses turn green, it will be populated with biting flies, chiggers and ticks. Stomping around in the underbrush becomes frankly a health threat in summer.

The point itself isn’t that inspiring. I chatted with a fisherman. The water is still too cold for shallow fishing right now, so he confessed it was more a matter of testing his new rod and reel and practicing his cast. It was short hike and could easily be my last for this season. I’ll wait to see if any more cool days grace this area; the biting insects stay in bed when it’s below 60°F (16C). That would allow me to take a longer hike around Point 12, the other recovery area with a no-wheels policy. It promises are more picturesque ramble.