Greider Lakes, Boulder Lake — Tuesday, May. 30, 2023

No, the hiking grandmas didn't go to Boulder, but I do have a bit of info after talking to a hiker that had been in there, I'll post it at the end. This is for Greider and I'm going to give a bit more info on this trail than previous reports have. The road to the TH is paved and then good gravel, loos are clean and stocked. There are 2 new bridges toward the beginning, but they are NOT FINISHED and not stabilized, so you will still have to cross the creek on some well-placed logs and rocks. There is a picnic table and loo at the Nighthawk picnic area about a mile in. There is a warning at the beginning of the trail about a nasty blowdown 2/3s of the way up the switchbacks, it is no joke. This is one nasty jackstraw mess of hanging root balls, crossed logs, rock and mud. Clearing this up will probably require a professional sawyer, chain saw and perhaps a stick of dynamite, plus a closed trail until it's done. I've been on enough work parties to know this is a dangerous logout. Meanwhile, you have to navigate your way thru it. I posted a picture and a bit of instruction on how we did it. I did flag a few spots so we could find our way back down easier. Some hikers cut thru the brush, but I feel that just erodes the trail and not a good idea. Deal with the mud.  Once past this one, you have another smaller one to deal with, for that one, just shoot straight up the bank beside it, hand over hand up, dirt glissade down for me. Other than the nasty blowdown, the trail is pretty good mostly, but toward the top it is a bit of a rocky rooty mess with rotten, falling apart stairs that are more hinderance than help. It's also a tough climb, I freely admit this trail was hard for me, but I'm old and ornery. We had no views of the lake and were running short on time, so we bailed on Big Greider today. The loo at little Greider is a biohazard. Why does the DNR go to all the trouble to put these in and then not take care of them? 

Now about Boulder, the man we talked to had found his way in there a year ago, he made his way across the creek on a log, but the trail is pretty much gone now. He found pieces of it here and there, but eventually found the lake by just bushwhacking, so don't count on a trail. What a shame, that is a beautiful lake, we were up there 30 years ago when the road went thru and it was a 5 mile hike in.