For my birthday weekend I would spend it in the beautiful Lake Margaret region of the high sierras. This is a granite lake miles in the middle of the mountains. Its actually a place allot of backpackers go to camp at perhaps it is because of the seclusion and scenic beauty this place possesses.
I have been to allot of lakes in the sierras all of them are unique in their own way, shape or form. They are also great places to look for Sasquatch at. Most of these places do not get allot of hikers with addition to them being offbeat they make wonderful journeys.
When I pulled up near the trail head I talked to a forest ranger he told me its very beautiful at the lake this time of year. I asked him about how muddy it is since Caples creek runs through the area with snow melting I had to assume the worst.
We would take a switchback trail as it took us right down into this canyon following the creek which drained over this cliff forming a beautiful waterfall. Below the creek widened as it spanned across a meadow full of wild flowers.
Our first two obstacles were trees that spanned across the creek that we would have to cross. I know what its like to fall in water due to a slippery log so I had to be very careful to keep all the equipment dry. One of the logs was sinking in the water as I crossed over to another one about half way across.
The deeper we hiked in the more secluded it became as we were surrounded by granite rock faces and cliffs. There was this one section where the creek ran down a steep rock that we had to climb down. Its so easy to lose the trail back here. We talked to a family who told us they became lost twice back here and could not find the lake which made me more determined perhaps to find it.
We came across a small pond hidden in the woods during our hike as their are quite a few back here. They could be caused by low laying areas where the snow melts then it just sits. This is a good place to find frogs but also their are a lot of mosquitos back in here which can be a bit of a pain in the ass.
It would seem we made it to a lower part of the canyon where we came across another series of waterfalls. Their was also some patches of snow around. Not that snow is uncommon its just odd hiking during an 80 degree day and come across a drift you can jump into to cool down.
At times the trail became very narrow passing through brush till we came out to a massive downed tree that crossed the creek. We were soon not to far away from the lake itself. The downed tree was a major obstacle to cross as the creek was very wide so we had to figure a way to climb it and get across.
In one of the snow drifts I found a print it was large could have been a human then it melted forming a larger then usual track. But I still had to keep the possibilities open that Bigfoot could lurk back here. I also found not to far away from the track a very green tree broken in half. I tried to break it in another spot and was not successful. Whatever broke it had allot of strength maybe Bigfoot hard telling though. I am always trained to examine each location as if its a crime scene looking for hair, stools, tracks and broken branches. Two of the elements were here which opens up the possibility that Bigfoot may lurk here.
We came across this slanted rock bigger then most houses that we would have to climb to the top of this rim which was surrounded by Lake Margaret. When we reached the shore it was obvious the lake was very high as the trail that went around the lake was submerged in mud and water. We decided that we would have lunch at one of the vista points which to the north we found one which required some tedious rock climbing but would take us a couple hundred feet above the lake.
Now that we were up on the rocks we had the lake directly below us while to our left was this massive woodsy canyon. This canyon continues to drop at a much lower elevation and probably would be a great place to search for Bigfoot. Its obvious the animals come up the canyon to the lake to drink water. Also from the vista point to the North and Northeast were snow capped peaks as well as granite cliffs. You can never imagine how vast this region is till you stand in the epicenter of it all and see wilderness 360 degrees. Throughout the rock formations were also small pools of water that you could soak your feet in it was very nice.
On our way back from the lake we carved our names into a tree with a knife that way I could be immortalized at least for the next 60 years lol. Its very common in the sierras to come across a certain species of tree you can do this with. I just added my name to the hundreds of names already on various trees. By this time a father and his song were heading past us whom ask me how much further they had to go. By this time the sun was setting so the forest was a dark canopy blocking out most of the light.
A little past that point I found a giant hole in the ground Tammy said a dog could have caused it and perhaps she is right with this one. We would take a different way back to our vehicle which was also very unique. The way we took back followed the creek to an open meadow surrounded by cliffs and snow capped peaks. I wanted to walk through the meadow to look for tracks as the ground was very spongy. My kids stacked rocks throughout our hike back out of here to signal other hikers so they do not get lost. Its just a common courtesy thing to do so others do not get lost as some did it for us on our way in.
I also found massive scratches in one of the trees near the meadow either bear or deer although they spread on them was quite wide it is possible an adult Squatch could have caused it. Allot of the evidence we find while investigating cryptids is circumstantial so we can never say 100 percent that it was caused by such a creature. Just as nearby I found a massive hand print in some soft sand and you could see the finger impressions. Hell it may have been caused by a foot but most of the impression was ruined due to the elements.
Hiking out of here during sunset was beautiful as the mountains reflected on the slow moving creek surrounded by trees and wild flowers. We found this one boulder split in half nature is an amazing force and its little things like this that make the hike worthwhile. I would leave this place breathless wanting to experience more of this offbeat location. There is no way you can see everything with just one hike but for me this was a really nice birthday gift. When I learned about a hidden lake deep in the sierras with only access by hiking on foot I just had to experience it firsthand.
Unlike some of our competitors we are not going to try and blackmail you into donating by saying that we won't continue if you don't. That would just be vulgar, but our lives, and those of the animals which we look after, would be a damn sight easier if we receive more donations to our fighting fund. Donate via Paypal today...
In an article for the first edition of Cryptozoology Bernard Heuvelmans wrote that cryptozoology is the study of 'unexpected animals' and following on from that perfectly reasonable assertion, it seems to us that whereas the study of out of place birds may not have the glamour of the hunt for bigfoot or lake monsters, it is still a perfectly valid area for the Fortean zoologist to be interested in. So after about six months of regular postings on the main bloggo Corinna took the plunge and started a 'Watcher of the Skies' blog of her own as part of the CFZ Bloggo Network.
New at the Frontiers of Zoology:
I have just had a brief telephone call from
Richard Freeman in Sumatra. The expedition has so far been remarkably
successful. They have: found footprints of at least three different individuals,
heard orang pendek calling in the jungle, got new and important witness
testimony, collected "lots" of hair samples. They were not affected by last
week's earthquake, but, they did feel the one this morning, which "wobbled them
from side to side for about three seconds". The expedition is now heading into
the lowland jungle to meet the Kubu people.
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