Hike #21 - Lake Sequoyah (Part 2)

You can't beat a five minute drive to the trail when you need to add some miles or kill some time on an afternoon.  This is especially true when it is the last week of summer!  Because it is so close to home, we have come to Lake Sequoyah several times.  Last time we were here I pointed out the improvements to the area such as new trail signs that indicated trails we did not know existed.  Today we decided to give these a try.  What an adventure!

We have hiked both of the trails on the east side of the lake.  Today we wanted to try the west side.  There is a simply out and back trail that follows the shore and includes a fishing pier out into the water.  Back by the parking area trails just meander through some nice trees.  I expect these are mostly made for and by horses.  There is a ranch next to the lake and we passed  groups on horses several times throughout the day.

Now we decided to get adventurous and try the Island Trail.  The map points out that this requires a water crossing.  The White River feeds the lake on one side, and on the other the spillway joins the West Fork of the White River to continue on as the While River.  This is what we had to cross.  It wasn't much more than knee deep on an adult, but slippery rocks and 30 pound kids on your back make it seem more treacherous.

The signs said the Island Trail is marked with blue blazes, but we had a hard time finding either a trail or blazes.  We knew we wanted to see the spillway, so we headed that direction.  We got in some legitimate bush whacking.  Not only did we make it to the spillway, but we also occasionally saw some blue blazes.  We still did not see the trail that these blazes supposedly marked, so the bush whacking continued.  Finally we saw what resembled a trail, and we were able to resume the meandering through nice trees on horse paths.  We again made our way to parts of the river that were less than knee deep and nice for wading across.  We also came to a spot where, thanks to our Runtastic app and Google maps, we were able to see how we could connect back to the earlier trail without a water crossing.  We finally decided that the reason there was no visible trail is that high water at some point had covered the trail with brush and debris.

In the end, we were glad that it had because we felt a renewed sense of wilderness cred after this adventure!  We continue to be amazed that such a beautiful place is right on our doorstep.

Travel time from home: 10 minutes
Today's miles: A hard earned 2.61
Remaining miles: 28.12