Meeks Table

The short route to Meeks Table goes through some forest then begins a moderately steep and short climb to a ridgeline, eventually continuing along the ridge, where you will walk through a myriad of wildflowers.

On the ridge, the path widens, and the grade subsides. Here, hikers are atop a grassy table, where wildflowers abound, then the terrain changes gradually to bare rock and dirt. But there's no dearth of life -- the rocks are dotted with bitteroot in the right season.

As you amble around the table, look for arnica, balsamroot, buckwheat, daisies, elkweed and lupine, among many other types of flowers. The far end of the table meets with a steep wall, where cliffs shoot up nearly vertically.

Looking down, you can see a beautiful sparkling lake ringed by bright green grass and dark green trees. This is McDaniel Lake, a great view for you while you eat lunch. There are campsites around the lake -- a popular destination for weekend warriors.

On your way down, enjoy the larches that line the route. These promise a golden pathway in fall and beautiful greenery in spring. As you head down, find another trail in the forest that reaches a talus field and then takes a steeper and rockier path up to the ridge. Taking it downhill with bring you back to the old road part of the trail, creating a bit of a short cut over our route up, cutting off one switchback in the road. A quick half mile or so of road and we were back at the main road and the car.