When the weather warmed up, the snow in the valley began to melt and in the hills the snow was wet, slushy, or became a mud-snow mix.     Snowshoeing at higher elevations would not have been much better, except in north-aspect higher elevations, but even those spots would be prone to snow “clumping” underfoot.     The valley bottom is the best choice in such conditions, hiking/walking on sandy, gravelly, or paved surfaces.   At the start of this phase, I chose to go up into the middle grasslands of Lac du Bois Grasslands Protected Area to hike the trail to the Long Lake Lookout.

The trail was, as expected, slushy, muddy, and, in spots, icy.     I wore microspikes to keep from slipping and the hike was moderate, but it was hard to stay clean.    The lookout offered views of Long Lake (a chain of several shallow lakes) with the hills rising above.

On the way back, I ventured over to Island Lake, a pothole, shallow lake between glaciated features – moraines, eskers, drumlins, and kames.

The sun shone through wind-dispersed clouds to the south.

The hike was only 3.5 km, but that was long enough for the conditions.    When I got back home, my truck was coated in mud, so it was off to the carwash the next morning.     The hike was still enjoyable, in spite of the conditions.    I will return to do the longer loop route once conditions are dry in the grasslands.