Five hikers started at Lacnor Mine road to Dumbell Lake and back to Gates of Hell. Enough energy was left to hike up the Firetower Lookout Rd to the bench. From there we started the Jackrabbit Trail at the Green Entrance. Muddy in spots as it had rained this am. We bravely continued through the well marked trail and past the Big Boulder with the picnic table. Group decided not to stop for snack because bugs were particularly hungry. We did make sure all along the trail today to have quick stops to sip water and use bug spray.
Along the way, we saw a luna moth caterpilllar , lots of tasty raspberries , and summer wild flowers such as asters, blue weed, fireweed, St. John`s s wort and y which are in yellow bloom. We even talked about the age old debate : is it a partridge or a ruffed grouse??? In any case we did not see any on this hike.
In all we hiked 7 km and were back at the cars at 12 :15 pm.
We were all grateful that the temperature had been in the comfort zone today.
Commentary by Emily
