White Lake Lookout
On a sunny November day I hiked the trail above White Lake to the Lookout. There was some slash burning on Bastion Mountain so there was some smoke in the area.
Although the trail is quite a good one, finding the right trail is a challenge. At the bottom is a maze of bike trails. I wound my way up to the Forest Service Road. There is no sign there, but I knew I had to go west. At the next junction, the signs were a little confusing and in the next 3 intersections/turns, even more so. One signpost was on the ground. Another sign was misplaced (the You are Here was not correct) and mis-oriented. A third sign had no mention of the White Lake Lookout Trail. After going the wrong way, I decided to ignore the signs and call up an app on my mobile (I used Maps.me) to keep me on track. If you can stay on the right trail it is only about 2 km to the lookouts.
The trails were in good shape, winding down through the forest.
There are many larch trees across the lake on the hillsides above Reinecker Creek, but only a few on the north side of White Lake. One young tree enjoyed the sunshine in the surrounding forest.
For a longer hike, the White Lake Lookout Trail continues on up the ridge and eventually joins some double tracks which could be hiked to create a loop route.
I had paddled the lake first, the main program for the day so the lookout was a short extra, but the weather was fine, the forest was quiet, and the views were rewarding. The Lookout Trail is not a destination hike, but it is an enjoyable shorter hike if you are in the area.