I was in the neighborhood over the weekend and decided to camp Saturday night in order to do some trail scouting on Sunday morning.
I wanted to check out conditions on a couple trails, and started with Sullivan Lakeshore since that was closest to where I camped Saturday night. I started at the south end and mostly wanted to check out the early miles due to reports of some challenging trail conditions. Noisy Creek Campground isn't open for the season yet, so I parked near the gate and walked in. I was surprised by how low the water is currently, although I'm sure that will be changing soon as the snow starts to melt in the high country. I found the trail to be somewhat brushy and narrow in places, although all-in-all pretty good for early season. But I turned around just after the mile mark, so no reports on what conditions might be like beyond that point.
When I stopped to re-tie my shoelaces near the end of the hike, I discovered I had several hitchhikers: ticks! It was funny because I had treated my hiking pants & shirt with permethrin ahead of the hike, but I forgot to spray my hiking shoes. The ticks were mostly trying to hide in my shoelaces. I think I found a total of six or seven, including a few later in the day, although I suspect I picked them all up on the Lakeshore Trail. It's kind of a known hotspot for them.
After leaving Sullivan Lake I headed for Halliday, since I'm leading a trailwork crew up there next month. I discovered that there is still quite a bit of snow on this trail: patchy for the first mile, and then completely snow-covered beyond Halliday Fen (at which point I turned around). I'm sure it will melt out significantly in the next month and will be ready for the trailwork crew, and I found there are even a few warm-up trees down for us in the first mile of trail.
At that point it was lunchtime, and I couldn't think of a better spot to enjoy my packed sandwich than the Riverside Canyon Overlook! It's just a short drive from the Halliday trailhead. There was a bit of snow over the roadway in shady areas: probably only a problem for very low clearance vehicles. The trail itself is snow free, and the viewpoint is fantastic.
After that it was time to start making my way home, but I couldn't pass by Sweet Creek Falls without making the stop! The waterfall is roaring right now and will only get better with additional snowmelt. I discovered that the trail structure on the highest point of the trail system has toppled since the last time I visited. The lower trails are all in good shape, though.
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