Trekks and Travels: Red Lake TH to Cigar Lake Ollalie Scenic Area 16 Oct 2015

Who knew! I was looking for a fall color hike in the Cascades (there will be lots of days in the Gorge soon...didn't want to drive there yet) and found some hikes in the Ollalie area in the NW OR Sullivan book. I took trails from two hikes to do this 10 mile out and back with a little loop hike starting at the Red Lake TH. I only had to drive .9 mi off the paved road 46 and it was a good gravel road. The trail starts off very steep but once you are up the trail is pretty level for awhile. Between Sheep Lake and Top Lake the trail gains elevation and then from Top Lake up to the PCT there is also gain. The forest at the beginning of the hike has some nice open forest floor and the trees are big. When you get up to the lakes, the terrain starts looking a lot like Jefferson Park area. The lakes are pretty but there are no big mountain views like in the Sisters area or Jeff Park. Lots of nice camp spots though. You can hike up Potato Butte and Double Peaks and continue in lots of directions to see many more lakes. Some are off trail. It was a beautiful day - saw a couple groups of hikers and one large group of backpackers in training.
The trail is not hard except for all the rocks. Much of the Red Lake trail is a stream bed and the rocks are large. High top boots and a pole are useful.
It would not be a good spring hike because of the water.
The TH is 90 min from my house. I left at 7:30 and was back by 4p. Not bad for a 10 mi day!
10 mi 2100 ft gain
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