When it says "grueling switchbacks" in the description, it was not joking. Three friends and myself packed in gear and food for two nights and three days.
The weather was beautiful and the lake was amazing.

Although the hike was extremely steep, the hike was well worth it. I would not recommend this for novice backpackers.

Looking back i think it was August 2008 along the Little Wenatchee trail where encountered a trail crew. This was the first trail crew i ever witnessed. It also happened to be a WTA trail crew. I was on a day hike to Meander Meadow, i started early in the morning as result the brush was heavy and wet with dew. I got soaked. It was on the return i bumped into the trail crew. When i saw how much brush was gone i was blown away.
Fast forward to Labor Day weekend. There was a WTA BCRT at Blanca Lake, which i volunteered. It is the 4th BCRT on this trail i have volunteered. The third was two weeks before. I've worked on other trails....i've lost count.
During the last two work BCRT's we re-routed the trail away from a muddy swamp. Where a low spot could not be avoided we built a stone turn pike, on the second BCRT some mineral soil was found and we capped the turn pike. In a spot where a non moveable boulder was encountered, it was simply incorporated into stone stairs with other moveable boulders. Yet another boulder stair case was built at the location what was better described as a clay slip-n-slide.
I've heard people say were crazy for backpacking into a remote location with heavy hand tools to volunteer heavy labor. I'll counter that with it would be insane to backpack into a remote location and not want to make a difference. Besides, there is plenty of time to goof off and lounge around enjoying natures eye candy.
I hope we made the same impression on day hikers and backpackers as they passed by witnessing us muscle rocks into place that i got from that trail crew on the Little Wenatchee.
Thank you WTA for giving me opportunity's to volunteer. It's been fun. I find it especially rewarding to see how much that section of trail from Virgin Lake to Blanca has improved. A few years ago i would not call that a trail...it was more like an eroded goat path.

The NYC (north west youth corp) has made a big contribution too. Thank you NYC!

This hike is a workout, but well worth it! 3 miles of climbing up and up and up and up, with the trail getting rougher as you get toward the top, but not bad. As you hike along the top of the ridge there are 2 areas where a bit of scrambling over rocks is neccesary, but it's a good excuse to pause and enjoy the views of Baker and the various peaks. Now you start descending toward the lakes! As you come to Virgin lake, which is a bit of a scuzzy looking but cute lake, you're thinking the worst is over since the rest is downhill. Wrong. Probably the most technical part of the whole hike is the descent to Blanca Lake which, even with some incredible improvements by NYC, is relatively treachorous and hiking poles are a HUGE help. Sadly I fear it may get trashed by the rain over the winter again but hopefully not!
Blanca lake does a great job of hiding until you are almost AT the shore and wow, it takes your breath away. Something about the lake is absolutely magical - you feel like you're in another world and never want to leave. To do it again I definitely would have spent the night. The hike out is easier but still somewhat grueling due to the steepness. Overall well worth it, but not an easy hike.

This was my first WTA sponsored hike-a-thon hike. Meeting new people and enjoying oreos at the top? I'll take it!
The trail, I must say, isn't very exciting...steep and strenuous, yes. views, not really. Anyway, the effort pays off at the end! (I would say the top, but the trail takes a steep downward turn for the last 1/2 mile to the lake) The lake is spectacular!
It was cloudy today, so we could see Columbia Glacier, but not much of the mountains surrounding. Not a big deal since I was so excited to see the lake! Mountain views may have sent me over the edge :)
No more bugs to worry about. Blowdowns have all been cleared. NYC was cleaning up and smoothing out the tread on the descent to the lake which will help immensely for the future! The descent to the lake is very steep and rough right now.