After an aborted attempt to run to Shaw Lake last week, I made another attempt. Shaw Lake is the source of the North Fork Wallace River. It’s entirely logging roads up to the lake. But some have been abandoned, blocked off and become overgrown, so it’s now single track. Up until several years ago, it was still open as a 4×4 trail. Motorized vehicles are supposed to be prohibited, but some people still find their way around the gates. And many people ignore the no shooting signs in the area as well.

I parked at the gate at 6:30pm. A few minutes of getting everything situated, and we were off. I let the dogs, Sigurd and Vida, go off leash, since there were no other cars, and I rarely see other people in that area in that case.

Just a minute or so in, I had to turn back around. I forgot to put out my parking pass, and I didn’t want to chance a ticket. So, I added an extra 0.3 mi to my run.

The logging road forks about 0.2 mi in, and the left goes towards the lake. Shortly after the turn, there is an older bridge over a small creek, then the road starts to climb. It’s not really steep, but keeps a pretty steady grade for the most part. There were several streams coming down the mountain and passing through culverts under the road. On warmer days, Sigurd and Vida make use of several of the streams. Even if they don’t stop for a drink, Vida loves to run splashing through the water and mud.

The next fork in the road, about 1 mi from the gate, is where I made a wrong turn last time, going straight, which eventually lead to me turning around. Instead, you turn right, continuing up the mountain. This next section of road has a number of shallow mini tank traps in the road. At the next switch back, there is a trail that is usually hidden by overgrowth leading to the end of another logging road that comes in from another gate. However, keep heading up the road.

Not much further, there is a large log on the right side of the road blocking what appears to be an abandoned logging road. There is a trail around the road block on the left side of this log. It’s a little boggy in a couple spots just after this log. This road has become very overgrown with alders, salmon berries, coltsfoot, and some blackberry. It’s just about single track for a while. There are also several tank traps cut into the road, deeper than the earlier ones, that can have water flowing through them after rains.

The road will eventually open back up after a little while as it heads back into a little older regrowth forest. There are several blowdowns in this section, but they are easily passable. As the road continues up over the crest into a small basin, it runs into a small pond. The road splits going both directions around the pond. Continue left towards Shaw Lake.

The road is level around the pond then starts to descend a little to about 0.3 mi past the pond where it reaches the upper part of the North Fork Wallace River. This was where I turned around the first time. I wasn’t sure how much farther and was already going to be over my planned distance. It’s easy enough to cross, but rainfall and time of year will dictate. I was able to cross without getting wet feet. The road then starts a short, gentle climb.

About 0.1 mi farther, you come into view of Shaw Lake. There are beaver in the lake, and they have a dam at the south end. If you’re going to use the water, make sure to treat it. The road continues around to about halfway up the lake where there is an old campsite and trail down to a small beach. There are other spots to go down to the water, but a lot of the shoreline has logs in the water.

The bugs were starting to come out in force when I was there, but still tolerable. Sigurd and Vida loved splashing, swimming and playing fetch. Sigurd likes to just go out and swim around, going nowhere in particular. I have to be careful about throwing rocks and things. They will try to go after it, even if it’s just a rock and thrown way out in the middle of the lake. I saw fish feeding on the bugs and heard a beaver’s tail slap a couple times. Unfortunately, there is some trash around the lake, which is probably part of why they closed it to vehicles.

It’s a little shy of 7 mi round trip with approximately 1800 ft of elevation gain.