Last summer we went to Taylor Lake, between Taylorsville and
Antelope Lake in Plumas County. I
have heard of it, knew kind of where it was located so we set off with great
expectations. The drive to
Antelope Lake was beautiful. We
drove around the south side and had beautiful views of the lake. The water level looked good all things
considered in this dry year. We headed
down Indian Creek towards Taylorsville looking for the signs to Taylor
Lake. We found the turnoff, no
problem but that was the last sign we encountered. It took my entire map reading abilities, George’s Eagle
Scout skills and a few coin tosses to find the small lake (and we met a friend
on the road who hadn’t been there in 25 years but thought we should go this
way…).
Taylor Lake sits at the base of the Kettle Rock (elv.7820) and is a small
natural lake. Once I was home I
asked for directions on Google Maps, and it had us traveling gravel roads from
Diamond Mountain. I have been on
those roads, and that is not the way to get there. There is a huge granite wall on one side of the lake with
springs trickling down the crevasses.
Tall trees and an old burn area it was beautiful. We saw osprey, a bald eagle, flickers
and a small hawk I have to identify.
We launched our kayaks and paddled around the lake a couple of times. What a wonderful day, lunch lakeside,
good friends and a most pristine location. I worked my upper body and had a good exercise
experience. Mission accomplished!
On our way out we looked at the turnoff we had come in on
and determined we came in the wrong way.
We went straight out and came up on a junction with a “SIGN” . How did we miss this! So on the way home we found the
“normal” road that was well graded and fast. But we did explore on our way in and had an adventure. I guess missing the sign is not always
a bad thing.
The huge granite cliff,
George and I sporting a Bali shirt.