Stats:
- Distance: 9.7 miles
- Vertical: 2100 feet
- Time: 5 hours
- Weather: low 80s, light wind, some haze
- Takeaway: Not busy on a weekday, surprising amount of snow, a gem I would hike a lot farther to get to!
Headed up to Snow and Source Lakes today.
Moderate number of people at the start (coming down), but virtually nobody later in the day. I hiked through to the log bridge on the trail from Snow to Gem Lake, and hit Source Lake on the return. There are patches of snow on the trail down to Snow Lake (refreshingly cooler after a hot climb), one a little tricky with a downed tree added to the mix, and a couple where you can post-hole (and I did, earning a bruise on my ankle). The trail had a moderate variety of flowers, but flowers are more sporadic than prolific (could not really tell if the majority are coming or going).
My first stop is always the high rocky outcropping about 1/3rd of the way down Snow Lake - beautiful views and never crowded. I rarely access the lake at the 1st access point once you reach lake level; cross the rocks at the base of the pool under the falls, and continue around the lake. The views and hangout spots only get better, and the extra distance weeds out the crowds. There were some folks swimming... but still very cold! You can continue on the trail towards Gem Lake. The trail rises again and crosses to the backside with views up the Snoqualmie Middle Fork valley and La Bohn and Dutch Miller Gaps. The trail then crosses back to lake side and a beautiful hangout spot next to the lake outlet spanned by a log bridge (which appears to have broken apart a bit over the winter!). This is a good spot to put in a pack raft, and raft over to the island at the far end of the lake, which is surrounded by shallow granite shelves perfect for swimming. Will have wait until later in the summer... still floating ice at the end of the lake.
A noisy pika let me get pretty close on the way out... he certainly sounded quite the alarm only to sit there and let me walk right up to him. I know people like that...
I detoured up to Source Lake on the way out. The trail "ends" (for now) at the large trailside waterfall, with significant snowfields and visible snow bridges beyond that. Lots of (high) waterfalls circle the basin, although probably past full volume. Source Lake itself has some avalanche debris in it which detracts a bit from its photogenic appeal.
Snow Lake never disappoints... I would hike much farther to visit this lake over and over again. But go on a weekday... the weekend is a different experience.
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