[singlepic id=96 w=320 h=240 float=left]Crystal lake area used to be a popular recreation resort for hiking, camping and boating. After the big fire 3 years ago in Los Angeles, some of the road got damaged and this area was closed for a few years. Finally it’s partly reopened again.

The view of beautiful lake between the mountains on the way to the crystal lake trail was amazing. I didn’t expect to see so much water in L.A. area. San Gabriel river east fork and west fork cross here. We hiked in the east fork last year to the bridge to nowehere.

During May, we hiked 3 trails in Crystal Lake area.
Windy Gap trail
The elevation was already very high where the trail starts, it was hard for me to walk fast. The trail was made even difficult to walk since many burned trees fell down and blocked the trail at many spots. The Windy gap was quite windy. Still some snow patches left in the shade.

Smith mountain
It was a beautiful trail with many wild flowers all the way up. but at the very end, there’s a very steep part to the peak, 0.5 miles with 800 feet escalation. Some part requires both hands to climb a little bit. After hiking this trail, my ankles were very sour for a few days.

Winston peak
[singlepic id=95 w=320 h=240 float=left]Because of the road closed for that day’s maintenance, we hiked 8 miles, 4 miles longer than our plan. It was my first time to see the snow plant. And there were so many of them. They look like red flower of some plant. But when you look closer, they don’t have any green leaves or stems.
The last part to the peak didn’t have any used trail. Even it was not very steep, probably with the escalation, I felt pretty tired.