Rainy Lake
This is an abandoned trail that heads south along Rainy Creek off of the downstream side of Middle Fork Snoqualmie Trail up to Rainy Lake, renowned for its trout-fishing.
On the far side of the Gateway bridge turn right and follow the makeshift river-side trail until it crosses Rainy Creek (see Hiking Guide entry for Middle Fork Snoqualmie: Downstream). Turn left and stay on the west side of Rainy Creek the entire way. Near the end the trail climbs a little higher than the lake to cross over a rounded ridge and then descends to the outlet stream. The trail to Rainy Lake goes up and down with several very steep portions. It's not been officially maintained for years, except for occasional "trail angel" maintenance. It is not a easy or quick walk to the lake. The scrambling route to Preacher Mountain continues along the ridge east of Rainy Lake, but it is used so infrequently there isn't even a boot trail visible most of the way.
Driving Directions:
Drive 13 miles up the Middle Fork Snoqualmie road. Turn right into the large parking log that provides access to the Middle Fork Gateway bridge. Recent Trip Reports
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Rainy Lake
— Jan 06, 2012
— Karen Daubert
Snowshoe/XC Ski
Issues:
Mudholes | Snow on trail
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Rainy Lake and Preacher Mountain were the destinations for the day and joining the group were Chris and Kathy, Stan,...
Rainy Lake and Preacher Mountain were the destinations for the day and joining the group were Chris and Kathy, Stan, Pat, John, Emiko and me. We started from the Gateway Trailhead at 7:30 just as it was light enough not to use headlamps. We crossed the Middle Fork River and headed right on the trail. In about 3/4 mile, we crossed Rainy Creek and found the junction to the Rainy Creek trail. The trail had been recently cleared of blowdowns and was snow free at least 2/3 of the way to the lake. We arrived at the lake with just a couple brief breaks at 11:30. It is a beautiful forest.
At the lake a couple of the party members decided to make it their turn-around point and it was a lovely white wonderland of a place to enjoy lunch. The rest crossed the lake outlet and headed up to the ridge above the lake. It took about half an hour to hike the 1000 feet to the tarn at 5200. From the tarn, we headed up the ridge to the right of the tarn and were soon up at the summit ridge. We headed right (west) and were on the glorious summit at 1. It was cold but the views were spectacular. The cloud cover was around 11,500 because Mt. Tahoma was just barely in view and the top of Rainier was completely cloud-covered. The Olympics were beautiful, as were the Alpine Lakes, and Mt. Adams. We headed back down at 1:30 and retraced our steps except took a more direct route from lake to around 4000, intersecting with the trail. We arrived back at the cars at 5:15 just before headlamps were essential. 5000' elevation gain. Snowshoes taken but never used. Day hike
Issues:
Blowdowns | Overgrown | Mudholes | Water on trail | Snow on trail
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Flickr: http://bit.ly/rainy-lake
Rainy Lake trail greeted us with nothing but snow and rain. The hike was too spontaneous that we didn't...
Flickr: http://bit.ly/rainy-lake
Rainy Lake trail greeted us with nothing but snow and rain. The hike was too spontaneous that we didn't start hiking until 12:45 PM. Service road 5600 was filled with countless potholes where we drove on for 12 excruciating miles. With less than four hours of daylight, we'd be lucky if we could even get to the lake before dark. Snow level around 1,800' and deepened the higher we went. It got to be about two feet of snow at 2,600' but quite manageable with just spikes. We stopped at 3,000' and turned around with one hour left until sunset. It rained the entire time we were on the trail and it did not stop until after 4 PM on our way back down. Hiking an hour in the dark back to trailhead seems to have become the latest trend. Day hike
Features:
Wildflowers blooming
Issues:
Blowdowns | Mud/Rockslide | Water on trail
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A few rain drops as we started our hike at 9:30am Sunday morning from the Middle Fork of the Snoqualmie...
A few rain drops as we started our hike at 9:30am Sunday morning from the Middle Fork of the Snoqualmie River. We crossed the bridge to the south side of the river, then turned right for 1/4 mile to just across another bridge over Rainy Creek. The trail to Rainy lake was a bit rough with downed trees and such, but not to difficult to follow. It took 4 hours for us to get to the lake which we estimate was about 3-4 miles. It is not shown on my 7.5 min USGS, but was a dashed line of a Green Trails map. The gain was ~3000 feet which includes a descent to the lake. Beautiful, quiet lake with a plaque to George Lewis at a camp along the west shore. He was a "TrailBlazer" fisherman who stocked Rainy and 9-hour Lakes. A couple of small snow patches at the lake. I would suspect excellent fishing. It took 2+ hours to return to the cars just as it started raining in earnest.
Day hike
Issues:
Blowdowns | Mudholes | Water on trail | Snow on trail | Bugs
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The trail description above is spot on.
We began by crossing the middle fork of the Snoqualmie River and...
The trail description above is spot on.
We began by crossing the middle fork of the Snoqualmie River and hiked west along a new trail as if we were going to Pratt River. The first major creek crossing is Rainy Creek. We went up along the southern side of the creek for about 500 feet when the trail became clearly visible. The trail was easy to follow for the first 2 miles. After about an hour, the down trees from this year's massive winter made trail finding a little more fun, but not impossible. But as we continued up the trail, we hit snow around 3000 feet. The last part of the trail was not only abandoned, but hidden from our view. We climbed up the ridge, trying to find the lake, but not set on it. We got to the top of the ridge, and from what I can tell on google maps, we were west of the lake on the ridge above it. I think I will return in August, when the snow is gone. If it will ever leave this year. Day hike
Issues:
Blowdowns | Mud/Rockslide | Mudholes | Water on trail | Bugs
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Don't let the specs fool you on this hike, it isn't as easy as it looks. We finally made it...
Don't let the specs fool you on this hike, it isn't as easy as it looks. We finally made it to rainy lake and it was a grueling hike. I took my wife who was slower but this hike ended up taking us 8 hours round trip. This hike continues on and on but it was nice to finally make the lake.
The lake itself isn't exactly the best alpine lake I've seen but it was fun none the less. We didn't encounter anyone on the hike. We got lost exactly where I got lost back in March (there was a lot of snow though) for some reason, I just didn't see the sticks over the path and we followed a trail that goes into thicker and thicker brush. The really strange thing is that there are some pink tags on the trees...right next to a nice patch of devil's club which I wandered around for a bit. We finally decided to hike back and then we noticed that the trail hopped over the river and up the bank. The trail after that is quite steep and you get some great views. Once at the lake, i suggest hiking to another side as the side you pop out on is a log-jam side where most of the debris and sap are floating. Bring some bug juice, always follow the boot trail and watch out for muddy slopes that give way. |
Rainy Lake with a thin skin of ice
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