PALMER LAKE

Activity: Day Hike

Distance: 7 miles, approximately 2,200’ elevation gain, 3.5 hours duration, rated Hard

Date: 12-2-20

The Palmer Fire of late Summer 2020 devastated the area. If not for the hard work and heroic deeds of the Fire Fighters it could have been much worse. In regards to Palmer Lake, a command post was set up at a residence that had been evacuated along with the entire area. Resident Dale Crandall, familiar with the terrain, notified the Fire Fighters of a trail that moved along the lay of the land heading up the mountain above the lake and the Firemen brought in equipment and went to work widening the trail and cutting it deeper into the hillside.

The break did it’s job as the fire burned right to it and no further. The mountainside of the break was burned. I observed during my hike that the lakeside of the break was unaffected by the flames. The fire break was successful and stopped the fire from continuing to spread, saving many homes and structures. Due to the success of the Fire Fighters the beauty of Palmer Lake remains intact. Thank you Fire Fighters and First Responders! And our thoughts go out to those that lost their homes in the Tonasket and Loomis area.

As far as my adventure hiking up the mountain that looks down at Palmer Lake, the trail was on the sunny side. The neighboring Palmer Mt was covered with snow while I just experienced snow across the trail every now and again. But once I made the ridge line I was in snow over my boots.  My climb up to the ridge left the only foot prints in the snow that fell some time ago, that is other than deer, rabbit, and maybe coyote. I spied about a dozen deer, which is nothing new for this area, but what is different is that I saw a couple good size bucks.  (Unless I saw the same one twice lol).

I have to say that Layering really works. The temperature was a little above freezing when I started and a little below freezing when I finished. I was wearing my ‘Pursuing Balance Through Adventure’ beanie, short sleeve PBTA high performance moisture wicking shirt, then on top of that a fleece lined sweatshirt, a fleece jacket and finally a down sweater/jacket, along with fleece lined hiking pants, and wool hiking socks. I think I will have to do a more scientific post on PBTA Hiking and Backpacking 101 in the near future on the subject of layering. The hike was gaining altitude the entire time and sometimes at a pretty good clip. It wasn’t long until I stripped down to just the short sleeve performance shirt and I was still sweating, probably due to the fleece hiking pants, lol.  I stayed that way until near the end heading down hill after the sun ducked behind the mountain and then put on the fleece lined sweat shirt.

 It was a great hike to get the heart pumping, breath in some fresh air, stretch the legs, take in wonderful views of Palmer Lake, and get into some of the white stuff. The hike wandered through some upper grassy pastures. Some horses came over to say hello. They probably thought that I was going to feed them. I was rewarded with snow in an wooded area at the top. It was a very nice adventure following the Fire Break to the ridge.

Burned area is making a come back as little shoots of green are sprouting up. The picture on the right shows that the fire burned right down to the fire break, but not beyond.

‘Pursuing Balance Through Adventure’ – Hiking the Palmer Lake Fire Break to the top of the ridge above. Thanks for accompanying me, as it is always nice to hike with someone even if it is just virtual support in spirit. Stay with me by doing each of these important steps: COMMENT, LIKE, FOLLOW and SHARE. If you go to the menu above you will see other places throughout the West that are worthy. You read about layering, now mosey over to SHOP APPAREL and do some layering of your own.

Happy Trails-

Roger Jenkins

Pursuing Balance Through Adventure