Commentary by Emily:
We had the most popular hike ever! There were at least 400 participants. To be accurate there were 398 or so winged, buzzing critters and two sweating, slapping hiking critters.
Dave and I paid no attention to the weather forecast and set out from Washington Snow Dump to Esten Lake beach.
We tried a bush trail near Slipper Lake but decided to stay on the roadway because there was a lot of water in the bush. The heat, humidity and bugs were also part of the decision to stick to the road!
There were a lot of rain puddles on the road. At one large puddle we observed 2 toads in the throes of romance. We stood close to the puddle to prevent an approaching side by side vehicle from disturbing the happy couple.
At the beach we waded in the lake to cool off. We sat near a small stream and saw some large turtle tracks along the beach , crossing through the stream and coming out the other side.
On the way back there were raccoon tracks in the mud that indicated the raccoon crossed the road while we were at the beach.
It was a great day for a hike.
In these hot and humid days stay hydrated and stop to rest in the shade to stay cool.
