Ochoco National Forest

June 18, 2025

I hiked two trails in this forest with the first being Ponderosa Loop which wandered among tall ponderosa pine trees spaced with gorgeous alpine meadows. I saw a deer and what I think was a bushy tailed woodrat on the trail. Driving to the next location was a bit difficult as my GPS could not find it, so I was relying on signs that were not always present on the forest service roads. I only had to backtrack twice for a short distance to find Walton lake. This is a hidden gem in the forest and the trail led around it. There were so many ducklings in one section and several geese families at the other end. Fish were jumping constantly. This is now on my short list of places I need to go back to and stay in the campground.