Waskehegan - Cooking Lake Recreational Area

July 26, 2009. This walk just reinforced to me that the Cooking Lake Recreational Area is a well kept secret. When my nephew and I arrived there was one other vehicle in the parking lot but we did not encounter anybody on the trail.

I cross country skied this area on March 20, 2009. Almost the exact same route that this hike was. My ski was on a Saturday afternoon and I noted that I encountered about six other skiers that day. I liked the undulating topography as it provided a more interesting trail to ski. I also noted the Neon Lake trail because it passes through some Mature Spruce trees.

We started the hike on the Lost Lake Trail, then Spruce Hollow, the Neon Lake, and then returned on Lost Lake again. We saw one Skunk, at a distance, heard coyotes and saw lots of frogs. We observed that most of the frogs were the Northern Wood Frog. We did also observe 2 Boreal Chorus Frogs. Of the entire walk the walk through the mature stand of spruce on the Neon Lake trail was the most aesthetic part.

This hike was just under 8 km. and took about 2 hours to complete. The maximum elevation was 2529 feet.