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 on the Snow Lake Trail for at least 20 years, so my memory of it
is rather vague. I know I did a backpacking trip with my dad, aunt, and brother
when I was a kid, when we hiked beyond Snow Lake to camp at the beautiful Gem
Lake. I think I also hiked this trail once with Jeannie. I normally avoid the
Snow Lake Trail like the plague, since it’s the most popular trail in the Alpine
Lakes Wilderness and is usually wall-to-wall hikers. Hopefully, going on a
weekday will thin out most of the crowds. I park in the giant Alpental ski area
lot with about 30 other cars and hit the trail. I take note of the Snoqualmie
Mountain trail just next door, as I’ll be hiking that one next week with a
long-time friend.
Just a few minutes into the trail, I am reminded why it is so popular. The trail
immediately provides views of Denny Mountain and Snoqualmie Mountain towering
over the west and east, respectively, and the sound of waterfalls gushing down
both peaks can be heard. The ski lifts thread their way up Denny Mountain nearly
to the top, but do not detract much from the amazing natural scenery. The other
thing about this trail that provides high alpine character is the abundance of
rock. Those looking for a soft forest trail probably should look elsewhere,
since the majority of this trail is covered with irregular rock of all shapes
and sizes. Being smooth and often greenish or bluish in color, it’s very
different from the salt-and-pepper granite at nearby Granite Mountain. I wonder
how much of the smoothness is natural as opposed to being worn down by millions
of hiking boots and tennis shoes over the years.
I cross a pair of lovely waterfalls running directly across the trail, the solid
rock probably carved out with picks decades ago to provide a safe and level
crossing for the trail. As I walk farther up valley, the summits of Chair Peak
come into view on my left, along with Bryant Peak, Hemlock Peak, and the
ever-popular climbing destination known as The Tooth. At about 1.7 miles, I
reach a fork in the trail, with the left path going to Source Lake and the right
path heading for Snow Lake. The Source Lake Trail eventually connects to the
Snow Lake Trail just on the other side of the saddle I’m heading for, enabling
the lollipop loop that is my plan today. I take the more-travelled right path
for now, heading for Snow Lake.
The way from here ascends a series of short and steep switchbacks, traversing
back and forth across the massive headwall that separates the Snow Lake basin
from the South Fork Snoqualmie and Alpental valley on the south side. It’s not
quite as obviously engineered as the nearby
Kendall Katwalk, but I suspect it was a similar effort to blast or carve these switchbacks out
of such an imposing piece of rock. After climbing about 600’, I reach the
saddle. The distant views are mainly obscured by clouds, but I have excellent
views of Chair Peak to the west, and the east end of Snow Lake is visible a few
hundred feet below. I work my way over to a giant rock outcropping providing a
clear view, and take it all in.
As reported by others earlier in the week, Snow Lake is still covered in snow
and ice, except for a few small sections near the eastern shore. The entire
backside of the saddle is covered in several feet of snow, and it seems most
hikers are turning around at this point. I do see a few brave souls heading down
to the lake. The lake is making its own weather, with a wispy fog rising from
the icy surface, and clouds rising out of the Rock Creek Valley and up to the
saddle where I sit. While I have pretty clear views to the south, the basin to
the north is a sea of clouds, occasionally obscuring the views of the lake. I
make my way down from the large rock and find the Source Lake Trail junction
just below it.
After ascending a bit of tricky steep snow, I find remnants of the Source Lake
Trail to follow and head west. Pretty quickly, the trail remnants disappear
under several feet of snow - looks like I’ll be relying on GPS from here on out.
Occasionally I see some old footprints along the track, but they’re not always
easy to spot. In the warm weather, boot prints in the snow don’t last very long
before melting into indistinct oblong shapes. Nonetheless, the way is relatively
easy to find, and the snow is firm enough to avoid sinking in, but not so firm
that I need traction. I make my way up some gentle slopes to what looks like a
high point in the ridge to the west of the saddle.
I spot a small way trail heading toward Snow Lake near the high point, and
decide to check it out. After a few minutes I find a slabby rock outcropping and
some very nice flat areas that have clearly been used as a high camp. I can see
Snow Lake from here, though it’s quite a long ways down and too far to easily
use for water retrieval from here. Chair Peak looks very close from this vantage
point, though it is obscured by flowing clouds more often than not. I retrieve a
few small bits of trash from the area, and one very nice MSR titanium tent
stake. Heading back the way I came, I return to the trail.
I continue to encounter bits of the trail here and there, but for the most part,
this upper basin is entirely snow-covered. I’m crossing my fingers that I won’t
run across some impassable avalanche chute covered in snow before I reach Source
Lake, which would cause me to turn around. I have micro spikes with me, but no
ice axe for traversing hazardous snow slopes. There are no recent trip reports
from this section of the trail, and from the sections I’ve seen that are melted
out, it seems it is officially abandoned. Still, it’s pretty easy walking and
the views of Chair Peak and Bryant Peak get better with every step. In some
places I can see and hear water running under the snow, so I make a point to
avoid those sections or find thicker snow pack to cross on. I do encounter one
moderately steep slope, but it’s not wide, and I plunge step down and diagonally
across to the trail on the other side without a problem.
Throughout this area, the waterfalls pouring off Chair Peak are incredible.
Falls of every shape and size roar from every direction, a surround sound effect
of meltwater. I wonder how much of this water will run dry later in the summer,
but for now it’s another hike straight out of Lord of the Rings. I follow the
trail through a large section of loose rock, then through a few short
switchbacks, and soon enough, Source Lake appears below me. The trail reaches a
steep avalanche chute of the very type I was afraid of. Fortunately, the very
rockslide I intended to descend to Source Lake will take me safely down to the
bottom of the chute, where I should be able to get around or over it and up the
other side.
I start down the piles of loose talus, being careful on the shifting rock. At
first, it looks like a long way down, but the rock hopping goes faster than I
expect, and in only about ten minutes, I’m within shouting distance of the lake.
The rock levels out and gives way to grasses, sprinkled with wildflowers just
emerging from their long winter sleep. Numerous large and small streams of
meltwater run into the lake from almost every direction, but it’s easy enough to
make my way across them and continue downward. I reach the lake shore and marvel
at the crystal clear water. Even more impressive is the giant pile of snow and
avalanche debris on the far side. It’s apparent that many avalanches have swept
down into this bowl over the winter and spring, going clear across the small
lake and piling up on the other side.
Fortunately, the lake itself is entirely melted, along with the northern shore,
so I have no problem dipping my hand in the refreshing water, or making my way
around the bottom of the snowy avalanche chute I saw from above. The bottom of
the chute is a fascinating demonstration of the snow hazards that can be
present this time of year. The snow is probably 10’ above ground level, but the
massive amount of water running underneath it has carved out tunnels that are
probably 6-7’ high on the inside. I could easily walk or crawl into some of
them, though of course this would be an extraordinarily bad idea, since snow
bridges like these can collapse at any moment. Similarly, it would be a bad idea
to walk over the top of this snow. It’s a neat time of year to observe these
phenomena, but I’m glad I can safely skirt around it on the shore of the lake.
It takes me another ten minutes or so to climb up a different rock field mixed
with small trees and occasional way trails, until I am back on the trail proper.
This portion of the trail to the Source Lake Overlook is still officially
maintained, so it’s much more obvious and manicured. I run into a couple other
groups of hikers, some of whom were trying to find their way to Snow Lake and
missed the turn. They seem impressed that I climbed all the way down to Source
Lake. I think to myself that it would be nice if there were an official trail to
this lake, but then again, a trail would make it somewhat less special and
certainly more trampled. Anyone who doesn’t mind a bit of rock hopping should be
able to get to it pretty easily, and though it’s a small lake, it’s quite pretty
and certainly big enough for a refreshing swim on a hot day, away from the
hordes at Snow Lake.
After checking out a couple waterfalls near the overlook, I head back down the
trail, reaching the fork to Snow Lake in a few minutes. I marvel again at the
massive rock of the headwall here. I keep up a pretty good pace back to the car,
passing numerous hikers who are taking things a bit more slowly. I complete my
adventure in just over 3.5 hours, happy to have checked another lake off my
list. It’s certainly a lake I could have thrown in on a later trip to Snow Lake,
but having it done now will save me some time and effort later. While I saw a
lot of hikers on this trail, it wasn’t as bad as I feared, and I’m sorry I
waited this long to return! This is a great hike that I highly recommend to
anyone, preferably during the week, so you can share the trail with only dozens
of people rather than hundreds of them.
Stats
Comments
Post a Comment