Blustery Days

Snow Lake, 11/1/08, 7 miles, 1300 elevation

If you are a Seattleite looking for a little hiking solitude during the summer, Snow Lake is not the place to go. However, if you want to go hiking with about 500 or more new found friends, Snow Lake is where you will find them. Michael & I found the solitude secret to hiking the Snow Lake trail with only 30 relative strangers.

Friends had often extolled the wonders of the Snow Lake trail - relatively short, not very steep, and in no time at all you are in the beauty of the Alpine Lakes Wilderness. But the reputation of being a hiker super-highway left me just a little turned off by the whole thing. I'm afraid of getting hiker-herpes on Mt Si, what could I get on the way to Snow Lake? A bit of solitude on an otherwise blustery day.

We took Zillah along with us and left the Alpental parking lot early. The amount of cars left in the lot prepared us for the worst, but we soon realized those cars must be there for the lodge and had nothing to do with our day on the trail. The rain held off through most of our hike into the lake and the sun even showed itself while we adventured along a side trail to the Source Lake overlook. But once we got over the saddle to the Snow Lake valley, the wind blasted us with a winter chill as it rushed through the valley and over the lake. Hurray for fleece. But poor little Zillah started shivering as we ate lunch by the lake. Time to get her some cold weather gear.

As we felt the first few drops hit or faces, we gathered up our layers and quickly gained the saddle to cross to the other side to block the wind. It wasn't too long after that the rain became heavier. Zillah thankfully let us towel her off when we got back to the car. Pretty Snow Lake even as cold as the wind became, had given us warm welcome.