South Fork Lollipop Loop

[James]

Hiked the loop Sunday, up the Dollar Lake trail to the summit and down the Dry Lake trail. After the hike I discovered to my dismay that the lens on my Canon A610 was out of focus on every picture. The A610 has a big lens (compared to smaller cameras) that easily malfunctions, leading to the dreaded "E18" error. There are a few ways around this (pushing gently on the lens while powering on, etc.). After too many trips using the "workaround" the camera finally got its revenge this trip. It's locked into a permanent spot where everything is out of focus. The cost of repairs is a lot. Maybe time for a new hiking camera. Any suggestions?

What a great day though, chilly at dawn and breezy at the higher elevations. After reading about Zip running this route, I considered it but decided to hike instead so I could bring camera/food, etc.

Up to the loop the trail is a great running trail, some nice flat areas through woods. After the split, the Dollar Lake trail was also fairly smooth and great views of the north side chutes. But wow, that Dry Lake trail is very rocky. Hiking in boots was difficult descending through the rocks. I could not imagine doing that in trail runners. Maybe there is a shortcut that avoids most of the rocks on the way down?

Edit: Sorry, trying to move this to the Outdoors forum (or delete and repost) but cannot find how to do that.

J

[zippetydude]

Nice job on your hike. Sorry to hear about the camera. If you do run the trail, you might prefer it in the opposite direction. I agree, it's awfully rocky on the Dry Lake side, especially right after Dry Lake. I'll hike the rough spots, so it lets me catch my breath here and there. Also, the airplane on the east side is always a good excuse to stop for a while. It's smoother on the Dollar Lake side, so I'm less prone to Kiss the Sweet Earth (read: fall). See you out there on the trail!

z

[James]

Thanks, it was a great hike. Love seeing that north side, now I know why so many like climbing that side in the snow. Definitely want to run at least part of that someday (maybe run up to the Dollar/Dry split then hike the summit and run from the split back to the trailhead). Will be interesting to compare times hiking vs. running.

The Skyline back-to-back sounds like a great challenge too. I hope I can make it out there for that one. Skyline is fun, glad it starts at such a low elevation!

j

[tinaballina]

hi james, hope you can join us november 7th, its going to be a hoot. i just love that word...anyway, look forward to seeing you.