Well that was easy! The lost trail was found and the gloriously perfect day made it quite enjoyable!! However, there was only two of us daring enough to accept the challenge of confirming the trail which completes the Rainbow Ridge loop. In all fairness, Don had intentions but was tied up with a garden project. He did meet us at the start, though, to provide some clearing and trail-marking tools - unfortunately, the hammer got left behind!
The hardest part was the cross-over trail from the dam over to the other side of Ryan Lake. Someone had recently trimmed the trail to make it easier to see BUT left all of the clipped boughs on the trail! Recognizing these as potential trip hazards, we diligently cleared the trail... extending the 'shortcut' time to an hour, actually turning it into the longest leg of the hike!
We then turned our attention to the task at hand: where exactly had we missed the correct turn last time? As we made our way up the trail, we noted how well marked it was in both directions. Surprisingly, the path was also wonderfully clear and open. In a mere 40 minutes, we arrived at a lookout - laughably, the same one we had visited first last week! ... where I had actually checked to see if it continued downwards!! (Originally it did not but I had heard that a trail had been cut to meet the original trail ... just never went on it). In that quick check, I had not identified a trail so we had returned back via the blue-marked lookout trail to carry on to our endpoint lookout and eventually to the bushwhacking adventure!
In hindsight, the error was in not looking up! I with my visor and others with caps on had not noticed the white trail marker above MY eye level at the first part of the lookout. When I had checked for a trail, I had not gone very far, noting only a second open rock area but no evidence of a trail. Now, it suddenly ocurred to me: the trail up from the main trail had only been marked with blue lookout markers! To confirm that detail, we hiked down to the start of the 'lookout trail' branching off the main trail and sure enough, there was only a blue marker at a junction that indicated the main trail continued on from there in another direction! Luckily, I had picked up a white marker that was on the ground along the shortcut trail so I found a rock and nailed it to a tree right beside the blue marker. Hopefully, it will remind all that the trail continues from this lookout down to Ryan Lake, completing the Rainbow Ridge loop.
Bonus: this lookout is far superior to the others along the original Voyageur route.
All in all, sunshine, great conversation, and an opportunity to laugh at ourselves made it all worthwhile.
