Walking down to the lake, I had to pass the horse trail. Most of it is separate from the hiking trail, but every now and then you run into horse people like these ones.

  

Last time I was up here, this stuff was shallow water not a mudflat. Those bushes were all wet. I remember wading out to water that was deep enough to swim in. It's not like that any more.



I remember putting my arm over this dead tree and resting there for a few minutes after swimming across the lake. Now it has to be at least ten feet out of the water.



I talked to these locals a bit about the water situation. They said that "it had been much worse", and that one good rainstorm can change the lake level overnight. The highest the lake ever gets is to the manzanita by the path, about three yards above where it is now. They weren't troubled by the current state of the matter.

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