Stellar Jays are very common in the mountain west, but that doesn’t make them any less beautiful. However, the white-headed woodpeckers keep distracting me and the Stellar Jays with their indigo, blue and turquoise feathers in the sun are beckoning the zoom lens. I think about switching to my wide angle lens. The shoreline features make an attractive foreground in this grand landscape. The Sierra Nevada mountain range frames the backdrop. The lakeshore is lined with large boulders and the gnarly stumps of long-since-gone trees. A ground squirrel, with a white striped body and cute tufted ears, pauses just long enough to assess whether or not we might be dropping granola bar crumbs and then scurries off through tunnels in the deadfall. Piles of their seed scales reveal the favorite dining spots of the pine squirrels and ground squirrels. Huge gray, brown and orange pine cones decorate the forest floor. A descent of woodpeckers dash about, working up and down tree trunks without much regard for us. A short rise to the top of a soft, pine-needle-covered path reveals the glistening turquoise waters peeking through the trees. A brief discussion determines the likely location of the lake, and so we go. It may come in handy as a directional aid in finding our car later today. We make a note of the origin of the smoke plume in the treetops. The smell of cedar permeates the air, punctuated by the smoke of a distant prescribed burn. The sun is warm, and the breeze is cool making the perfect temperature for hiking. Soon we join a gravel trail, an official trail, and turn south toward Fallen Leaf Lake. There are adorable little pine squirrels quietly darting all about while Stellar Jays chatter from the trees.

How lost can we get? We’re walking through a golden grass meadow dotted with towering old, cedars, pines and occasional sagebrush. We’re between the back road behind us where we parked, a campground to the north, a lake to the south and the creek to the west. We’ve set out to hike a loop around a creek with a salmon run. It’s a well-worn footpath to be sure, but it may not be on any actual trail map. I’m not sure that I’m on an official trail.

Fallen leaf lake hike