Alpine Washington

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