Little Spar Lake hike
Bob Hosea trip notes
July 16, 2010
Bob Hosea and his son, Chase, took a hike to Little Spar Lake on Wednesday, July 7th. Below are his trip notes.
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Trail Report:
The trailhead for Little Spar lake is around the far side of Spar Lake. You can get to Spar Lake from the Lake Creek road, which is just East of Troy.
At the parking area, you will have to cross Spar Creek, which is now flowing across the road and not under the bridge. From there you will walk a half-mile or so up an old road to get to the Little Spar Lake trailhead sign. The first trailhead sign that you come to is for the Spar Peak trail #324. The trail for Little Spar Lake #143 is just past that a short distance.
The trail to the lake was in great shape. Near the start of the hike you will need to cross Spar Creek. A tree that fell over the creek works well for a bridge. Spar creek starts at Little Spar Lake and the trail follows Spar Creek the entire way to the lake, giving you great views of the many waterfalls that Spar Creek has. There are also many small streams that cross over the trail and flow down to Spar Creek.
On our way in we were able to see one large Barred Owl, and on the way out we saw one Marten. There were many wildflowers lining the trail that included Queens Cup, False Miter Wart, Davidson's Penstemon, Indian Paintbrush, Yellow Violet, Yarrow, Cow Parsnip and many others. From the trail you also have a great view of Spar Peak, which has an elevation of 6585 feet. We didn't see any other hikers on our trip.
The distance to the lake was just under four miles, with an elevation gain of only 1850 feet. There were still a few small patches of snow down along the creek and also at the lake. At the lake we could see many trout swimming around in the crystal-clear water and also in the creek. There were also many biting flies at the lake too, so the bug spray came in handy.
Click here for a YouTube video of the hike: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_WNc1xupBA
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Editor’s Note: Bob welcomes comments and questions from people about area hikes. He can be reached by e-mail at: hiking@thebobfactor.com
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