Day Hike - Whistle Lake

Driving and Parking Conditions

We met at 11 AM at a local P&R. From there, we carpooled to the trailhead. Traffic was awful. The drive took around 2 hours instead of the usual 1 1/4 hours. The time we left usually doesn't have this degree of traffic and the slowdowns can't be completely explained by either constructions of Tulip festivals.

The trailhead was nearly full by the time we arrived. There were some spots on the side of the road so we were able to take one of those.

Route and Weather

The hike involved going around Whistle Lake. The route itself was convoluted so that we could achieve the desired mileage. If we had a straightforward route then the hike would've been substantially shorter. We did take a few wrong turns though we were never lost. This did make for an adventure and didn't meaningfully change the distance or difficulty of the hike.

The pleasant weather, sunny and cool, made the hike pleasant. The sun sparkled against the lake.

Wildlife sightings

We saw a variety of birds during our hike. There were ducks and larger water fowl in the lake. On many occasions they took flight just to land not far from where they started.

The big highlight was our sighting of bald eagles. We initially heard their call at which point we turned around to see a total of 5(!) in a single tree. There were 4 adults and 1 juvenile. The photo attached to this trip report has all 5 eagles in it (they may be hard to notice without zooming in). Can you spot them all?