Lake Serene — Friday, May. 30, 2025

Bottom Line:

First packraft of the season, and Lake Serene was a good choice! BEAUTIFUL water, especially the west shore with its giant granite boulders (below and above the surface), crystal-clear aquamarine waters, 9'-plus snowbanks on the water's edge and interesting passageways, all below the towering peaks of Mt Index. Outstanding! The attached video shows the sublime paddling conditions. After hiking on the lake in January, nice to be in the lake. The trail is in good condition, with just a few areas of mud.

Stats:

• Distance: 11-1/4 miles (including packraft on lake)
• Vertical: 2560 ft (including exploring at lake)
• Duration: 5-3/4 hours
• Road/Parking: Access via Mt Index Road off Hwy 2. The parking lot is large (~50 spots?), but there is not really an overflow lot (except for a handful of spaces just beyond the junction between Mt Index Road and the lot entry) so if the lot is full, one will really need to wait for someone to leave. There are otherwise "No Parking" signs everywhere. I got the last parking spot at about 11:30am on a Friday, so the trail was obviously busy, although the majority of folks were headed to the falls rather than the lake. On the way up, plenty of folks were coming down, so it would not have been a long wait for a spot. National Forest Pass required. Toilets, both in the lot, and then again up at the lake. Cell coverage all the way up to the lake.
• Weather: Sunny with a few high clouds, calm to light wind, 60-70Fs; really warm in the sun at the lake with lots of folks "swimming" (i.e. jumping in and then scrambling out of the chilly water!) The lake is slowly cast into shadow in the later afternoon - the west shore was sunny around 1:30pm but mostly shaded by about 3:30pm.
• Water: There is plenty of flowing water on the trail for filtering as well as the lake itself. There is a "dry stretch" of 1-1/4 miles or so during the steep, rocky switchbacks after the falls. I did not carry water but filtered often as it was a warm day! 
• Flowers: The trail, especially before the switchbacks after the falls, is incredibly lush right now, with ferns (love those tiny sword ferns), devil's club and a variety of flowers, notably: buttercups, bleeding hearts, salmonberry, thimbleberry, cow-parsnip and queen's cup.
• Trail: The trail is in good condition. Some large blowdowns from January have been cleared. The lower part of the trail is overgrown in spots, while there is some mud near the falls at both the bottom and top of the switchbacks. The switchbacks are a little brutal - steep, rocky and numerous large step-ups. But the distance is short - the most challenging part is within ~1 mile. Poles definitely help on the descent. The remainder of the trail is pretty moderate. Reaching the lake, head right (west) to get to Lunch Rock which is the iconic perch on the north end of the lake. You can make your way around the west shore of the lake on foot, although the route is rocky, and currently blocked by snowfields about 1/2 way down (easier to paddle!)
• Packraft: Lake Serene is a completely different experience on the water. IMHO, the west shore is where the best paddling is, although a good route is to circumnavigate the lake as well (suggest counterclockwise). The west shore is a maze of submerged (fully and partially) giant granite boulders - lots of fun to explore. The lingering snowfields from the Mt Index avalanche chutes are cool as well (CAUTION: The snow can collapse into the water; watch your distance). The water is amazingly clear and colorful. Paddling down to the far end of the lake provides great views of the numerous waterfalls coming off the headwall. Suggest early afternoon paddling for the best lighting conditions, as the shore will become progressively more shaded as the afternoon wanes.
• Takeaway: I missed the transition season when there was more floating ice on the lake, but the result was a warm, calm day on the water, with large snowbanks on the water's edge on the west shore of the lake below Mt Index avalanche chutes. Go now before the remaining snow disappears! Still can get a "berg paddle" on Snow Lake (currently frozen) if I can time that right ;)

The attached video highlights paddling on the west shore. Banding in some of the pics is due to compression; video will have higher resolution versions.

More Information on this Trip Report

• https://www.instagram.com/wta_alpinewanderer/
• https://wildflowersearch.org/search?oldstate=gms%3A4%3Bgmc%3A48.00238,-121.6524%3Bbloom%3AIgnore%3Blocation%3ACutthroat%20Lakes%20&%20Bald%20Mountain,+WA