We left from the Morte Lake parking lot thinking that we would follow George’s flagged route up the hill to the bluff south of Chinese Mountain. However, we found that the mountain bike trail, Breakfast Beer, had been completed, so we followed that instead. It’s a steep climb up to good views, at least the views are good if the weather cooperates.

We continued on mountain bike trails, following Ridge Trail, Seven Sins and Nirvana, for more views, and to join up with the official maintained trail around Morte Lake. We took that trail clockwise around the Lake.  We stopped for lunch at the picnic table at the northwest corner of the lake and the water level in the lake is so high it nearly reached the table. We continued along the north bluff and the access trail, turning off on the Dead Fish bike trail to return to the parking lot. These are great trails through beautiful, often open forest. The views, the lake and the fungi were wonderful. We only had occasional light rain during the hike, but it rained hard by the time we returned to Heriot Bay. 10.9 km; 4 hours.

Debbie

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Hike – Alternate Morte Lake Loop – 26 Oct 2016