Alpine Washington

I’ve got a backcountry work party coming up that will involve four nights in the wilderness near Hester Lake. As part of my preparation for this trip, I’m going on my first overnight hike of the season, and my first solo backpacking trip ever. For this adventure, I’ve chosen to visit the Scottish Lakes in the northeastern corner of the Alpine Lakes Wilderness, in an area called the Chiwaukum Mountains. My plan is to camp at Loch Eileen, which is the third lake I will reach on this four-lake hike, but whether I can make it that far with a heavy pack on remains to be seen. I’ve actually borrowed my son’s 45 liter pack for this trip, since it’s about two pounds lighter than the 70 liter pack I normally bring, and I don’t need the space just for a single night. I pack everything up and hit the road, reaching the Ethel Lake Trailhead east of Stevens Pass at around 12:30 PM. It’s a rather late state, but one advantage of an overnight hike is you don’t need to p...

For today’s hike, I want to visit a new lake, but I also need a short hike since I’m preparing for a few days out of town tomorrow. A quick jaunt up the Snow Lake Trail from Alpental should fit the bill, and I can swing by Source Lake on the way down. I’m not expecting to actually visit Snow Lake, since I know it’s still frozen over and surrounded by deep snow, and I’ll be going by Snow Lake at least once or twice later to visit higher lakes anyway. The weather today is perfect with a mix of clouds and sun, and temperatures in the 70s. Note: depending on which map you use, Source Lake may appear to be outside of the Alpine Lakes Wilderness. However, with the additions to the ALW made in late 2014, it lies just inside the wilderness boundary. Source Lake is supposedly so named because it is the source of the South Fork Snoqualmie River. I can't help but think of this as a very lazy designation, since almost all lakes are the source of some creek or river. I haven’t been ...