The trip from the trailhead to Hyas Lake is easy and clear. Past Hyas Lake towards Deception Pass, the blowdowns become troublesome. In fact, the trail to one of the backcountry toilets is totally blocked by blowdowns. Other than that, the Hyas Lake hike is an absolute delight. Plenty of wildflowers and just dipping your feet into the lake is totally refreshing.

Grandma came up for the weekend so my husband and I got to go away for a few days without our son. We decided to go camping in the Tucquala Lake area. The road is bumpy, but is passable to passenger cars and horse trailers. (The ranger told me it had just been graded last week; I expected it to be in better condition!) The Scatter Creek Ford is barely a trickle. There are lots of camp sites spread out along the river the entire way up there, and almost all of them were full. We managed to get a nice spot that apparently is used for horses sometimes. It wasn’t on the river, but there was a fire ring, spots for tents, and even some makeshift “tables”. We had a nice, relaxing Saturday, enjoyed the stars that night, and leisurely packed up the next morning. Three deer bounded through the meadow, and the evening grosbeaks were abundant and noisy.

We wanted a gentle, no-stress hike, so we went up the Deception Pass trail to Hyas Lake. Temps were in the 80s, not a cloud in the sky. It was peaceful and cooler under the trees. You go two miles through nice forest, with gentle ups and downs. The trail crosses a few streams, which were very easy and had either logs or well-placed rocks to step on. It took us 45 minutes to get to the lake. There are some sweet campsites at the lake, with access to sandy beaches that were perfect for wading. There are beautiful views of Cathedral Rock and Mounts Daniels and Hinman. We were inspired to take our son there next summer to try out backpacking. There were the general forest wildflowers blooming. The coolest ones were monkshoods, which got up to 5 feet tall in places and were the most perfect purpley-blue color. There were butterflies everywhere and lots of bird calls even in the middle of the day. The flies were thick, but were deterred by generous amounts of bug spray. (Don’t forget it, you will regret it!) We only saw a few mosquitoes.

This trip is 3 hours from our home in Lynnwood. Don’t expect solitude on the weekend; there were a LOT of people. It’s beautiful country, though, and we look forward to exploring more.

I took a friend visiting from England to Hyas Lake as a jet-lag friendly jaunt and we had a great time! Besides the not-so-good unpaved road that is not marked all that well, it was a fantastic trip. As long as you have keen eyesight and a great deal of patience, the road in is passable for any vehicle. Being in a new car myself, there were moments of cursing. However, the trail was in great shape, just expect some areas of mud and a handful of creeks to cross. The flowers were out, as well as the bugs. They created a literal swarming cloud until we dug the Deet out, and then it was all clear. Plenty of wildlife, including a couple of Deer that hung around our campsite throughout the evening. Couldn’t have asked for better weather, nor a nicer way to spend a night!

Hyas Lake is an excellent place to take kids on a first backpack trip. It's a short, flat hike to a gorgeous lake with several good lakeside camps, and the lake is a good staging location for a fine day hike to Tuck and Robin Lakes. Why people backpack to these higher lakes is a mystery to me - but if they like very steep hikes to unsheltered camp spots, more power to 'em. On this trip we had virtually no bugs. One slight bummer is that the toilet at the lake is almost full and falling apart.