Jackson Meadows and Mt. Lola Climb

A week after camping at Jackson Meadows with my friend Gary, I went up again with Kate and Charlie.  We brought our kayaks and the Jeep this time planning on doing a little exploring and taking the Mt. Lola hike.

We drove to Perazo Meadows past the normal trail head for Mt. Lola and onto a 4whl drive road.  This took  us to an interim trail head that saved us  900+ feet of vertical climb from the original trail head below in the valley.  The wildflowers were amazing!  Gorgeous meadows, creeks, waterfalls and forest.  Climb was fairly easy for maybe 2/3 of the way, then got steeper.  We ended climbing almost 1600′ of vertical gain.  It was eight miles RT about 2.25 hrs up and 1.5 hrs back.  At the top we took some drone videos even though the wind gusts were a little scary.  (Actually we were just down from the top at Sphinx Head because there was a group of people hanging around the peak.)  Mt. Lola is at 9143′ and we had to cross banks of snow as we got near to the top.  Easier going up than coming back down in the slippery snow.  Charlie loved rolling in it and couldn’t get enough.  He did great on this hike.

We also went to Milton Reservoir just below Jackson Meadows Dam.  Its a shallow lake, very beautiful, that has catch and release fishing only.  No live bait allowed.  Kate kayaked around it with Charlie while I flew the drone above.

I fished on Jackson a couple days in my kayak but only caught a couple very small trout that I released.  However, its just so relaxing to fish early in the morning when the water is smooth as glass and all the birds are waking up and talking.  A great way to start the day.

It turned out to be fortuitous that we went to Milton  early in the morning that last full day because the afternoon was filled with thunder showers.  A nice time to stay inside and read books.  A very relaxing end to a really nice four days in the mountains.

 

Author: Geoff

Quick rundown: Grew up in Lombard, Illinois, went to Arizona State University, worked as a CPA with Arthur Andersen & Co, then Laventhal and Horwath, then Rolling Stones, then Heron International, then Goodby Berlin and Silverstein in San Francisco. Moved to the foothills in 1990 and traded futures and designed websites. Married to Kate Stewart, now living in Colfax, CA. We have six grandchildren. I enjoy camping in our RV, hiking, kayaking, fishing, droning and cross country skiing Also conga drumming, photography and dogs.