"What Not to do on a Hike to Blethen Lake"
My technical information is a bit sketchy and I apologize.

June 28th, 2003, 4:30pm - June 29th 2003, 8:30am.

I found some information on a trail to Dream Lake and decided to leave a bit late and spend the night. In a hasty, confused effort to find the trail to Dream Lake (Taylor River Trail #1002) I must have taken a wrong turn and not realized it. Still, I found a trail that was labeled "Taylor River" and proceeded to don my heavy pack and launch myself down it, alone except for my camera and trusty compass (I don't believe in GPS). The trail is flat, gravel and parallel to Taylor River for about 1/5 of a mile before turning North onto what I believe is known as Quartz Creek Road (more on why I believe that later). The trail quickly climbs 300 feet over the next half-mile, but the scenery is beautiful with plenty of wildlife and trickles of water, though most of them run under the trail through culverts. Admiring one of these glurping pipes I looked down for the aforementioned trusty compass, only to find it gone from my beltloop. A bad sign.

Later on this steep straight stretch I met a day hiker on his way down. He asked me if I was heading "To the lake." I answered in the affirmative, feeling thrilled that I was on the right path. He then told me that LAKE BLETHEN was beautiful. When I asked him what that had to do with anything he said, "That's where you're heading, right?" He then showed me his topographical map, neatly marked with the waypoints he'd set with his GPS, and annotated with the altitude and mileage. This is the map I am drawing all of my statistical information from as I write this. The map showed a trail to Lake Blethen and Upper Lake Blethen, and no Dream Lake to be seen anywhere in the map's 5 mile range in all directions.

The concern on my face prompted the hiker to give me the copy of the map and wish me good luck as he had "lost the trail a few times and had to return to his last waypoint." He must have assumed I had a GPS for this hike. I was really starting to wish I had.

The trail continued up to a switchback, which backtracks about a fifth of a mile in the other direction before it cuts back west again. The trail is still wide and graveled, and the scenery is still beautiful, but despite this, I am worried.

At about 3 1/3 miles from the trailhead there is an old bridge which has collapsed, save for the supports which consist of trees at least 12 feet around with rebar driven into them every foot or so. About a half-mile past this there is a similar bridge, just as dangerous to cross, and a steep gravel face about 8 feet high on the other side which is a bit of a scramble to climb up, toting a heavy pack.

Roughly 4 1/4 miles from the trailhead is a wash, steep with water rushing down it. Across this wash is a yellow rope tied so you can hold it as you wade across the water. Now I KNOW this is not the trail to Dream Lake, but checking the day hiker's map I know that at least the steepest part of the trail is behind me, so I suck it up and cross the slimy rocks with a death grip on the rope, wondering briefly if that hiker was a closet sadist who might have frayed the rope a bit at the knot. Luckily, I make it across, where the trail cuts downhill and vanishes.

I continue down the hill a bit, veer away from the wash and then proceed back up the hill. Then I realize that the trickle of water running down its rocky bed I stepped over earlier WAS the path. I follow it again, and now it's only about a foot wide, and the brush on either side conceals it from view unless you drop down on your knees.

In the end, the trail came out into an open area with several streams and ends again. I was accustomed to this and cut across, searching for it again. To my dismay, I found nothing. To my even greater dismay, I couldn't quite recognize the trail back either. My panic mounted, as did the swarm of mosquitos around my face, but finally I stumbled back across the trail. Thanking the Lord, I headed back and pitched my camp by the wash for the night.

I headed back about 5am and reached the trailhead at 8:30, tired and glad to be alive.

Would I do it again? I plan to, equipped with my new GPS, a hiking partner and a map of where I'm actually going to be hiking. Upon further research I learned that Dream Lake is about 8 miles from Blethen Lake. I'll have to figure out where I made the wrong turn and do the hike I'd planned to do originally.
Contributed by Wes Neilson