Trip Report: |
We found this trailhead without too much problem. Turn right
just as you pass the dam, and you'll find yourself at the Day Use
Area and the Trailhead for Timothy Lake Trail 528. The sign
says 13 miles round-trip, but that is for hikers. We didn't
think anything of this at the time...
The weather was beautiful and the sun shimmered
off the crystal clear lake as we pondered whether to eat lunch
before or after the ride. After some
 debating,
we headed down the smooth singletrack trail. The trail was
wide, with relatively few roots. The trail mostly heads
through the woods, though you could see the lake through the trees.
Everything was going along well, until we reached an intersection
with a sign telling us to dismount our bikes for 600 feet. We did as
instructed, and walked across a couple of bridges. At the end
of the 600 feet, signs told us that the remainder of the Pacific
Crest trail was closed to bikes and bikers had to take the 1916
trail, diverging away from the lake. We begrudgingly headed up
the 1916 trail, which was narrow and rocky, nothing like the Timothy
Lake Trail. After a mile or so of continual uphill, we reached
a gravel road.
A sign on the far side of the road said "Timothy
Lake Trail Left 1 Mile / FR42 Right 2 miles" To the right was
a rocky dirt road heading uphill, and to the left was a nice gravel
road heading downhill. We followed the sign and headed down
the gravel road. Naturally, this was the wrong way. THE
SIGN IS WRONG!! After blazing downhill for a half-mile, and
churning uphill for another half-mile, we hit a paved road. We
turned right, and within another mile of uphill, we found Forest
Road 42, the main road. The sign read "Timothy Lake 5 miles".
Unhappily, we pedalled uphill for another couple
of miles up the road before it turned to a nice downhill coast all
the way to the lake. We passed a couple of signs along the way
for various trails, but Sandra was cruising way ahead of me, so I
had to follow her (my bike needed serviced). Eventually we got
to the campground and I lectured her about staying together and
threatened to eat her lunch.
After eating lunch at the day area, we drove back
to the gravel road to see where the real trail was, and it was
increasingly obvious that it went up the rocky dirt road. We
drove up the dirt road until the trees hung too low for our car-top
bike rack. We 4x4'd a bit to turn around, scratching up our
Infiniti 4x4 in the process (grr...). We passed another
group on the way out who had also made the erroneious turn. We
steered them in the right direction. Next time we'll get it
right!!!
The part of this ride that was on the trail was a
lot of fun, and not difficult at all. We're looking forward to
seeing what the rest of it is like. The lake is beautiful, and
even though we missed half the trail, it was a wonderful afternoon.
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