Eastman Lake “Lake Trail”

Dale Matson

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My Route

Eastman Lake is a 150,000-acre foot reservoir in Madera County. The particulars can be found here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastman_Lake

The Lake trail is about four miles in length and amounts to about an eight mile out and back. It can be hiked from the Southern trailhead near the Raymond Bridge over the Chowchilla River on County Highway 613 out of Raymond. There is a bathroom at the parking area. The northern trailhead is located in the group camping area at Eastman Lake. Inquire at the Ranger Station for directions to this trailhead.

         This was my first time to hike a portion of the trail. I was looking for an eagle’s nest between the trail and the river. I was told the nest was about a mile out from the trailhead at the Raymond Bridge. There is a nice bench to sit and rest on before you get to the part of the trail where you can view the nest.  I walked about a mile and a half and was unable to spot the nest. I headed back to my truck and ran into a group of three hikers near where the trail begins. I asked if any of them knew where the nest was and the older of the two men said that he had been there before.

         Well, I was on the trail and had my camera so there was no point in my leaving now so I asked if I could travel with them. It was fine with Sandy, her son Bill and Bill’s uncle our designated docent.

There are “rollers” and by this time I was getting a bit tired and lacked water. After about a mile and a quarter, Bill’s uncle pointed to a “Bull Pine” (Yellow Pine) on the trail side of the river bank. We had to walk further to see the nest clearly. You could make out the head of a Bald Eagle in the nest with binoculars or my telephoto lens. The other eagle did not make an appearance nor did the eagle in the nest fly out of it while I was there. I left before they did because I was anxious to get back to my truck and apologetically asked for a drink of water (It got up to the mid 70’s Monday). Our docent said, “I have three bottles with me, take one.” This was a true trail angel.

         I was glad to make it back to my truck and headed back to Fresno via Raymond and Coarsegold. I hope some folks reading this will take this hike for the nice scenery alone. There are also Red-Tailed Hawks along the way. If you do locate the nest please respect the birds by staying near the trail. My photographs were taken with a Sony A7R3 and the Sony 100-400 GM with a 1.4X TC.

 Coot (AKA eagle food)

Crop Of Nest Photo

 Sandy and Bill