Marion and Clara Lakes

Dave was off today so we decided to take a quick hike to the lovely lakes, Marion and Clara. He had never been and the kids and I hadn't been for a little while. The trail entrance is right opposite the lower entrance into the Mission Ridge parking lot. It is relatively short (2.5-3 miles roundtrip) yet pretty steep going up (~900 ft/mile), but really quick coming back down. One thing we forgot and wished we hadn't was bugspray...there were a decent number of mosquitoes up there. Basically you just follow the well packed trail (there are side trails that meet back up along the way)...pass across the Pipeline trail and keep heading up...take the left hand trail pointing towards lake Marion and you'll first come upon Clara Lake. It is a sweet little lake, but make sure to continue on to Marion Lake for a more lovely view. Go left when you hit Clara Lake and when you come to the next T, take the more well-packed trail to the Right...the lake is just a short distance beyond. The temperature was probably 10-15 degrees cooler and there are still tons of Lupines and other flowers out so quite lovely this time of year. We were a smidge chilly after being sweaty from hiking up, up, up then sitting with a little breeze at Marion Lake. The water is very cool to actually swim in, but feels good when you reach there being so hot. It's a nice little half day hike to take...

Clara Lake

Marion Lake