Annette Lake

After missing my group of hikers at the meetup in Issaquah by a few minutes I decided on coffee and the newspaper at Starbucks. I then hit the trail about 1030 for Annette Lake. The trail had the usual seasonal muddy areas and extra water but the trail is in great shape. Trekking poles were a great help on the descent and saved me a couple times even when taking care to place my steps carfully. The crossing over Humpback Creek early on in the ascent is spectacular with the view of water coming down. There was just a bit of snow at the higher elevations left over from last week but none on the trail.

The weather was clear most of the day with clouds coming and passing as I neared the lake. Once at the lake the wind picked up enough to form white caps on the water. The wind also dropped the temperature about twenty degrees from the forested trail. Since this was a weekday hike there were few people on the trail and my near hour at the lake was spent alone.