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Copyright © Craig Romano/The Mountaineers Books Pear Lake
A beautiful lake perched on the Cascade crest in the heart of the Henry M. Jackson Wilderness. Pear is a scenic delight, served with a fine accompaniment of old-growth forests, wildflower meadows, and alpine views and is indeed a sweet destination. This approach has its advantages in the form of Top Lake, Fall Mountain, and few fellow hikers.
Starting in mature timber high on Shoofly Mountain, the trail quickly climbs a couple hundred feet before kicking back to a gentle slope traverse. After about 1 mile of easy ambling, short steep switchbacks alter the pace. But the drudgery is short-lived as the trail once again eases into a gentle traverse. After entering the Henry M. Jackson Wilderness the way gradually gains elevation, cresting a 5000-foot ridge between Shoofly and Fall Mountains. Thinning forest grants views south and north along the meadow-carpeted Cascade crest. Prominent and obscure peaks compliment the emerald divide. At about 3.25 miles the way skirts beneath Fall's 5594-foot summit. Peak baggers may want to nab the pinnacle, but wildflower admirers will be perfectly content staying on the rail as it hovers at 5200-feet, brushing meadows and traveling through old groves of mountain hemlock. Continue on - a knee-jarring descent awaits. The trail drops 700 feet, bottoming out at Top Lake (elev. 4500 ft). The forest-lined and grassy-shored body of water is a peaceful spot, but in early summer hordes of voracious mosquitoes will keep you moving. Beyond the lake the way winds through splendid albeit buggy meadows, terminating at the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) (elev. 4600 ft) 5.3 miles from the trailhead. Pear Lake lies less than a mile away. Turn right onto the PCT, heading north toward Canada on the long-distance thoroughfare. After approaching a rushing creek, the trail makes a short, steep climb of about 300 feet and then a quick drop of 100 feet, coming to the easy end of the pear-shaped lake at a trail junction. The eastern shore is often busy with backpackers, so head a little way down the Meadow Creek Trail for quieter coves and shoreline meadows ripe for napping. Recent Trip Reports
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Overnight
Features:
Wildflowers blooming | Ripe berries
Issues:
Blowdowns | Overgrown | Mudholes | Water on trail | Snow on trail | Bugs
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Since trip reports on other lakes in the area, such as Lake Valhalla, indicated that the snow in thi...
Since trip reports on other lakes in the area, such as Lake Valhalla, indicated that the snow in this region had finally retreated, we thought we would try to spend Saturday night at Pear Lake. To get to the trail head drive up the Beckler River Road from Skykomish on US 2, and take a right on road 6530. However, the road sign seems to have gone missing. So, when you get to the end of the pavement on Beckler River Road, you will see two roads branching to the right. The first road is labeled 6520, and the unlabeled road is 6530. Follow it for 4-5 miles until you encounter a sign board for Meadow Creek trail on the left, uphill side of the road. There is no actual parking lot, just a wide spot which will accommodate about 5 vehicles.
The trail quickly climbs through forest, gaining elevation at a steep pace. There are a few downed trees and limbs throughout the hike, but nothing that isn't easily scrambled over. After a mile or two ripe huckleberry bushes are present along the trail, but unfortunately they only last for about half a mile. The trail continues to climb up the ridge until after the 3 mile mark. Then the trail follows a decent-sized creek, and the grade lessens for a few miles. The path meanders back and forth through several lush hillsides and wooded sections. The various flowers and shrubs are at full height and have often grown over the trail in places. At the end of the valley there is a nice campsite where the trail crosses the creek and turns to assault the ridge. The trail then begins the arduous climb around Fortune Mt to Fortune ponds. Near the top there were a few large patches of snow left, but nothing obscuring the trail. After a mile or so the trail opens up into an alpine meadow of flowering heather. The meadow is still quite damp, and the path serves as a water way in a few spots. We startled a number of decent sized, brown frogs. The trail curves around the lower Fortune pond, which had one large campsite, with outhouse, and a nice waterfall flowing into the lake. The path then heads right up the ridge, gaining 400' in elevation to position you above Pear Lake. Coming down to the lake you lose that 400' of elevation. The lake is very pretty, with a rocky mountain side on the right and nice alpine meadows and timber on the left. However, at this time, the mosquitoes are absolutely ravenous and seem completely unaffected by Deet. One fellow hiker suggested using Lemon Eucalyptus Insect Repellent instead. We were not the only ones up at the lake, three or four other parties showed up for the night. And while the bugs seriously hampered our ability to enjoy the lake during the day, they disappeared with the sun, and we could sit on the rocks by the lake and appreciate the clear night sky. We were fortunate not to have a moon-lit night, and the view of the stars was incredible. All in all, Pear Lake is a long hike with several sections of fairly steep trail, pleasantly transitioning from low timber to green valley meadows and alpine heather fields. The lake is calm and will be nice and peaceful in a month when the bugs are dead. |
 Pear Lake, photo taken by poppyseed1.
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