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Crossing Lake Mary Road, we get immediately on the trail and start heading through the pines.

We cross under the road to Pine Grove Campground. 

There are several gates we'll encounter while passing through various properties.  It's pretty obvious a forest fire has passed through this area, too.

Most of the trail takes us either along or on old historic railroad bed.  There are obscure remnants of the stone bed all along the way.

And in places, the old bed is much more obvious.

Some of the first butterflies to awaken in spring are the Mourning Cloaks.

Sweet little clusters of showy phlox appear all along the trail

With about two miles to go, we'll enter a mixed conifer forest.  It seems a little wetter and cooler as we draw closer to Mormon Mountain.  The variety of bird calls is amazing!  Western Tanager, red-faced warblers, and a variety of vireos.

One more gate and by now, we're looking forward to finding our car waiting for us.  It's been a beautiful, easy, but rather long hike!