We had mild weather over the Christmas period and we were able to hike the trail on the west side of Kenna Cartwright Park, choosing our trails to avoid muddy conditions.   We chose Tower > Ponderosa > Big Pine and found relatively dry trails.

We worked our way over to the Lava Lookout Trail.

We explored the 40 million year old lava flows and speculated about whether the shapes were in fact  lava tubes.

There are several interesting outcrops to explore near the viewpoint.

Views extend west toward the rugged terrain around Kamloops Lake.

This was near the solstice and the sun was low in the sky as we hiked back past Spadefoot Pond and down Big Pine Trail, again looking for good conditions for the last section of the 2 hour hike.

It was rare to have sunny and dry conditions at the end of December.

The hike is one of our favorites, one we will do again when the conditions are right.