Success!
When Jeff and I explored Floras Lake on July 2nd, we had an ulterior motive… to traverse the trail from the lake to the junction with the Blacklock Point Trail. Unfortunately we failed and ended up on the airport runway.
So, today we decide to give it another shot.
We drive down Airport Road again until it dead ends onto the tarmac.
We park the car and retrace our steps to Blacklock Point.
Fifteen minutes later we arrive at this familiar directional sign.
West leads to Blacklock Point and east leads to the airport runway. Trust me, Jeff and I know where the tarmac is. All we can logically surmise is that heading east may eventually take you to Floras Lake, via a short trek along the airport runway, that leads back into the forest again, perhaps where we exited on July 2nd.
I mark the spot with a picture of a wildflower.
Twelve minutes later I look down and find a gnarly mushroom.
When I look up, the junction between the 2 trails we were looking for on July 2nd, is staring at me!
I take a picture of Jeff standing on the road not taken when we first explored Blacklock Point.
This now becomes the road taken to reach Floras Lake and discover where we sauntered off the beaten path.
The mushrooms are plentiful here and resemble portobellos.
I snapped the picture below and didn’t discover the banana slug posing underneath until I cropped and posted!
And now the path reminds us of the story of Hansel and Gretel again. But look closely and you will see the blue opening of sky and sea.
Indeed, we exit the dark and veer off the trail to follow a short path overlooking the Pacific Ocean.
To the south is Blacklock Point.
To the north…
And we head back to the main trail…
Another fork in the path…
And another splendid view…
We continue our hike, hugging the coastal views peeking through the foliage.
Then suddenly we encounter a small sand dune steeply dropping off to a beach below.
The south side of Blacklock Point offers a beautiful view of the sand cliffs. I just have to share 2 pictures, even if they are very similar…
As we continue, the trail becomes very narrow. I capture a close-up of sand-sprinkled leaves and flowers…
And one of several bees attached to these flowers…
A trail marker lets us know we are on the right route…
More flowers…
And another dark forest…
Descending… Crossing… and Ascending Again…
A swampy-smelling ravine to cross…
On a skimpy bridge…
A look from above…
And finally…
We exit the trail and find out where we went wrong as we retrace our steps from Floras Lake.
Why did we miss the trail marker? Actually, we didn’t… We just thought it led back to the beach and we were not fond of traipsing through more thick sand.
And why did we come to this conclusion? We encountered a small group of hikers intersecting the trail here…
A man of about our age, commented, “We are out of the deep sand, at last!” So, when we saw the trail leading west, we just assumed (and made asses out of ourselves) that it led to the beach…
Soon, we arrive at Floras Lake…
And head back again, the right way this time…
And I take some time to stop and capture a bright orange flower to celebrate.
wandering gypsy Laurel 