In spring each year we hike around Long Lake in the Lac du Bois Grasslands.     The route involves little in the way of elevation gain, but is about 9 km return to do the hike, with no established trails.    The route follows the fenceline (single tracks) into the deep trench which has a series of lakes and ponds (the Long Lake Chain).   There is  a gate between the first lake and Long Lake or hikers can cut across and carefully climb over a grazing fence (grazing rights are maintained in the Lac du Bois Grasslands Protected Area).  On the east side of the lake is an established double track that has become grown over in the past few years.   At the north end of the lake, we had to go over two fences to come back on the west side of the lake.   At both ends a style or man-gate would be a good addition to the Parks lands of the area.

 

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We rounded the south end of the southernmost pond in the trench and enjoyed the reflection in the lake.

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Sometimes we stayed on the double track but when it was too overgrown, we followed the fenceline instead to complete the 2 km section up the east side of the hike.   the lake was still mostly frozen over, but it looked as if open water was not far away.

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Redwing blackbirds and killdeer frequent the marshy shoreline in spring and the lake is the seasonal home to many ducks.

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The hills surrounding Long Lake hadn’t yet “greened-up”  Looking into the sun, the colors are more muted.

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We hiked to the end of the lake, then crossed some fences (smooth wire on top, not barbed wire) to come around to the other side.   We usually have lunch on the isthmus (its really an esker), but with frozen mud below the lake, the water was high and the isthmus was an island so we hiked along the lake to a ridge with views in both directions instead.

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The route along the west side of the lake is either on sidehills or along sloped single track cattle trails, 2 km of ankle stretching.   Sidehill gougers handle this better than humans with equal length legs.

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At the south end of Long Lake, we climbed some grassland ridges away from the ponds and lakes, following the fenceline back to our parking area at the 7 km mark.

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More Information:

• Wildflowers along the Hike Route – Along the Long Lake Route
• Previous article – Long Lake Lope
• Parking area – N50° 45.632′ W 120° 25.120′
• Start of the single tracks next to the fence – N50 45.728 W120 24.993
• Gate crossing at the south end of Long Lake – N50° 46.347′ W 120° 24.717′
• Isthmus – N50 47.292 W120 24.717