Bowen Lake
We really like the scenic trails, and the trails that don't see a lot of traffic. But we also like a few challenges in between. We enjoyed Grizzly Jeep Trail the day before, but we were happy to find even more challenges on Bowen Lake. Four of us started the trail, but Walt and Julie soon decided that they'd rather enjoy the scenery while Monica and Matt did the rest of the trail. We split up for a while.
Most of us went to Yellow Lake, though it was a muddy mess. The tight trees made things awkward, and the mud near the lake wasn't fun to turn around in. We probably wouldn't come out to that lake again.
The hill soon into the trail and past Yellow Lake was a good one, though, and it just kept on going. The rocks were loose and it was a good time. Once the hill was climbed, the trail was fairly mellow as it passed between groups of trees.
We got to the looped end, and decided to go to Bowen Lake first. That was a good call, because it was most scenic when the loop was done in the clockwise direction. At the lake, Monica and Matt talked about going back and not doing the loop, so the others wouldn't have to wait as long. We realized that would be silly because we were already out there, so we kept going. We tried to keep up a good pace, though.
The loop passed through meadows where the trail was barely there. Grasses grew in the middle that were pretty tall, and we knew we couldn't stop or our warm Jeeps could be a fire hazard.
There was a spot where we could see the valley created by Grizzly Creek, and it was pretty impressive. That was definitely worth the trip around the loop.
When we got back to the main trail and off the loop, it was a quick trip to the rest of the group. The descent down the rocky, bumpy, and often loose trail was a blast. This is definitely a trail you should do if you're in the area and you want a bit of fun.
