On the original trip we were going to do in 2016. I ended up bailing after the first night due to illness. Went back again to the same area, St. Lawrence Ranger Station TH, in mid-August 2018 with a different plan. Stayed in The Meadows the first night. Tried to go down to Twin Lakes on signed trail that’s not on maps. Trail was obvious. About 50′ above Twin Lakes the downfall got so thick I couldn’t find a way through. Backtracked up to trail the trail to Raft Lake. Had to turn around after .5 mile. Went back up to the Meadows and then down along Entigo Creek on another signed trail not on the map. Good going until just past Movo Lake. Should have camped there and fished. After that we averaged about .5 MPH crawling over and under downed trees until we got to Sonnicant Lake. My dog learned the “under” command that day as there were really big trees down. The main trail back north was well maintained, as was the trail in from the trailhead to Wilson Lakes.
No problem at the trailhead. Gorgeous area. We didn’t see anyone on the trip except for between the TH and The Meadows. A bit of a fluke I’d guess as the Wilson Lakes area is supposed to be popular. We didn’t end up going to the Wilson Lakes as we were out of time. I think that was the first trip that I carried bear spray on. Which I’ve done on the following 2 trips over on the west side. My thinking was that since grizzlies are now known to be in the entire range, and in the HIGHLY unlikely event we encountered one, my dog wasn’t going to play dead if one charged us, so I started carrying it. Now that he’s gone, I’m not sure If I will carry it or not in the future. To be fair, I’m not even sure how much I want to go back without him. I’m going in August to spread his ashes but after that who knows?
I’d certainly recommend going there as long as you have the mindset that it could be hard work. Personally, I think working through downfall is a LOT of work.
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