Today's "Lunch at a Lake" brought Tredhed and I back to one of our favorite childhood destinations; Wilcox Lake in the aptly named Wilcox Lake Wild Forest. We've been to Wilcox Lake a dozen times, but never from Bakertown. I don't know why, but it just didn't happen until today.
After a bumpy two mile ride from Harrisburg Lake, we arrived at the outlet ford site and suspension bridge.
We quickly donned our packs, crossed the nice bridge and enjoyed a few hundred yards of classic pine flanked old road walking.
That quickly changed after we passed the Moosewood Club. We were warned about the mud wallows and abused condition of this old road, but it was still a shock to see the impact ATVs have on these old woods roads.
We soon came to the fisherman's path crossing point of the East Branch of the Stoney Creek and discussed the best way to get to the other side. Tredhed put his Army training to use and shimmied across the cable, while I played it safe by putting on water shoes and wading across.
We both made it across safely and headed up the unmarked fisherman's path to the lake.
Soon enough, we arrived at the new lean-to located on the eastern shore of the lake. I was thrilled that the construction crew was able to use much of the old lean-to materials when they built this beautifully sited gem.
The extremely clean site opened up to a great view of the western shore and it's own lean-to, almost a half mile distant.
After mousing around the new site and making the appropriate log book entry, we took the fisherman's path (now marked with yellow disks) to the location of the old lean-to. I always liked the view of New Lake Mt. from this site.
Our final destination today was the west shore lean-to and a little lunch. The loons announced their presence while we nibbled on our sandwiches and enjoyed the moment.
All that was left to do was make a quick log book entry and pack up. We decided to make this a lollipop hike today and exit the lake via the yellow disked DEC trail to the East Stoney Cr. suspension bridge. Sadly, the ATV's had used the steep trail leading away from the lake and left quite a few ruts. After we turned left on the red disked trail to the creek, there were still more ATV tracks in the mud. :gripe:
When the suspension bridge came into site, we took a quick break to enjoy the views of the East Stoney Cr.
Turning left on the blue disked old road, the ATV ruts continued until we reached the Moosewood Club where we were surprised to see a pickup truck hauling a lawnmower for a little camp maintenance. After exchanging waves and "hello's", we were soon at the ford/bridge and the end of our "Lunch at a Lake" adventure.
An absolutely perfect early summer day for a four hour hike on yellow, red and blue disked trails to one of our happy places. With the exception of the nice gentleman in the pickup truck going to the Moosewood Club, we were the only people in the woods today. :clap:
After a bumpy two mile ride from Harrisburg Lake, we arrived at the outlet ford site and suspension bridge.
We quickly donned our packs, crossed the nice bridge and enjoyed a few hundred yards of classic pine flanked old road walking.
That quickly changed after we passed the Moosewood Club. We were warned about the mud wallows and abused condition of this old road, but it was still a shock to see the impact ATVs have on these old woods roads.
We soon came to the fisherman's path crossing point of the East Branch of the Stoney Creek and discussed the best way to get to the other side. Tredhed put his Army training to use and shimmied across the cable, while I played it safe by putting on water shoes and wading across.
We both made it across safely and headed up the unmarked fisherman's path to the lake.
Soon enough, we arrived at the new lean-to located on the eastern shore of the lake. I was thrilled that the construction crew was able to use much of the old lean-to materials when they built this beautifully sited gem.
The extremely clean site opened up to a great view of the western shore and it's own lean-to, almost a half mile distant.
After mousing around the new site and making the appropriate log book entry, we took the fisherman's path (now marked with yellow disks) to the location of the old lean-to. I always liked the view of New Lake Mt. from this site.
Our final destination today was the west shore lean-to and a little lunch. The loons announced their presence while we nibbled on our sandwiches and enjoyed the moment.
All that was left to do was make a quick log book entry and pack up. We decided to make this a lollipop hike today and exit the lake via the yellow disked DEC trail to the East Stoney Cr. suspension bridge. Sadly, the ATV's had used the steep trail leading away from the lake and left quite a few ruts. After we turned left on the red disked trail to the creek, there were still more ATV tracks in the mud. :gripe:
When the suspension bridge came into site, we took a quick break to enjoy the views of the East Stoney Cr.
Turning left on the blue disked old road, the ATV ruts continued until we reached the Moosewood Club where we were surprised to see a pickup truck hauling a lawnmower for a little camp maintenance. After exchanging waves and "hello's", we were soon at the ford/bridge and the end of our "Lunch at a Lake" adventure.
An absolutely perfect early summer day for a four hour hike on yellow, red and blue disked trails to one of our happy places. With the exception of the nice gentleman in the pickup truck going to the Moosewood Club, we were the only people in the woods today. :clap:
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