We parked in the lot across from Hells Campground and found ample parking on a cloudy Saturday afternoon around 1:30pm. With two dogs in tow, we meandered onto the trailhead veering right at the sign near the parking lot to start on the Pleasant Valley Loop Trail.
The first ~2.5ish miles are pretty flat and move along the river. There were a few small puddle and water crossings but all had ways across without getting your boots wet. After passing the horse ford the trails winds upwards into the post-burned area.
This is where the blowdowns started. There are a good handful of blowdowns to navigate, up and over, around, and sometimes underneath. The trail get's pretty steep as you are climbing up towards the lake.
Once we arrived at the lake we were greeted by many MANY mosquitos. The dog took a quick dip and we did not stay to enjoy the bug bites. Opting out of lunch there we turned around and headed back down towards the river.
We found a nice little river spot about 1.5 from our original trailhead to snack on some late lunch and take in the views. The mosquitos weren't quite as bad down on the river and allowed us a little respite with the slight breeze blowing.
All-in-all a pretty non-notable lake hike but was nice to get out and warm up the legs for the season. The bugs were manageable but a bit of a nuisance if you did stop for any amount of time.
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