Gold Cord Lake

 I started trying to hike up the Rae-Wallace Trail. But from the parking area, there were so many trails leading that way that I had a hard time choosing which one to hike. They all lead to a nasty creek crossing. I picked up Bella and held my poles in my other hand and started across.  I slipped on a wet rock, and we both landed in the creek. I scraped my knees and decided it was just too wet and miserable to continue up that mess of wet trails. I got back in the car and drove up to Gold Cord Lake. I'd heard they had been doing some improvements on that trail, so wanted to check them out. I did find where they had made a nice rock trail over one of the worst swampy sections. It still needs a lot more work. I admire the volunteers who worked on it recently. Bella enjoyed barking at the birds, marmots and ground squirrels as we hiked up to the lake. I let her off her leash at the lake, and she made friends, after initial barking conversations, with a couple of other dogs. The water was so calm that the reflections were wonderful. It's just a short hike, but always very magical. I let her go unleashed all the way back down.