Snow Lake Snowshoe

So, I planned this snowshoe hike the night before to give myself time to check the avalanche reports and pack the needed equipment. I knew the temperature was going to be high and the sun was going to be hitting those south/southwest facing slopes along the trail soon...so the prep was mandatory for safety reasons. The avalanche rating was only projected to be 2 on a 0-5 scale, but I still wanted to be on the trail by 6:00am so I could do all the climbing on hard pack snow...as opposed to sun-baked slush. Unfortunately I missed my alarm and ended up starting at 9:45-10:00am, which I knew would make the trek a lot more slippery and irritating to navigate in certain areas. But I still wanted to break my new snowshoes in so I gave it a shot.

     I got close to Source Lake which is just a little over 1.5 miles in and marks the point at which you need to turn North to climb up a pass between Chair Peak and Snoqualmie Mountain. At this time it was almost 11:30am, the UV index and temp was high, and I became concerned that the 3 or 4 small avalanche chutes and snow covered creek crossings I traversed along the trail would be very soft and slow to navigate if I waited more than an hour or two to head back....so I took some pictures and turned around to get back passed them before the mid-afternoon sun turned those chutes into moving snow-cone earth.

    The most useful notes I can provide are the following:

A: The snowshoe trail to Snow Lake has barely been touched since the last snow. I identified one snowshoe track and maybe two different snow boot treads. The snow boot hiker didn't look like he had a fun time...as I found numerous sink holes caused by his boots where his legs dipped into the snow two or three feet. Other then that, I was breaking the trail in a little bit. On my way back, another snowshoe hiker came through. So anyone looking to do the trail soon ought to head out the next week or two and take advantage of those extra tracks.

B: Hike as early as you can if the weather is going to be sunny, warm, humid, or rainy. It's far from avalanche proof territory.

C: If you're wondering how much snow there was, it's hard to say for sure. I estimated anywhere from 3 to 4 feet on exposed snow clinging to steep slopes...to 5 to 9ft on flatter areas shaded by tree. The trail is probably +/- 2 months away from seeing significant stretches of the dirt trail.

D: Scenery: Awesome as are most hikes in the Snoqualmie corridor.