Lake Serene - Bridal Veil Falls

We arrived at the trailhead at around 10:20am to a park ranger checking cars for their Northwest Forest Passes and to ensure that people were parked in the proper configuration. As it turned out, one of our vehicles had an Annual Northwest Forest Pass that expired at the end of July and so it was no longer acceptable according to the ranger. Those riders had two options: #1 drive 5+ miles back into town to go to the ranger station and buy a new pass or #2 leave the parking lot and park their jeep along the side of Highway 2. They opted for the later and were fine but we wondered why the ranger didn’t have day passes with him for us to buy for $5?

There ended up being 33 of us in total including a large Saint Bernard/Great Dane mix dog but we did our best to break up into smaller groups of 3-6 hikers so as not to totally occupy the trail (though the lookouts at the falls and lake were mobbed by this hoard of engineers and business folks – sorry fellow hikers who were not part of our group). The weather was nice and as always the trail was in fantastic shape. The stairs leading up to the falls are always a challenge that leaves myself and some of the team panting and stepping aside to catch our breath and take a water break. The falls themselves seemed to be running a bit calmer than I remember – perhaps due to early melt this season? – but none the less they were beautiful.

We then continued on and up to the lake. This 2 mile stretch always seems to take longer than I remember. You cross over a lovely bridge and then go through a small waterfall area that normally includes a nice shower and pond but today it was reduced to a barely noticeable trickle and a dried up pond bed. We spent well over an hour working our way up and each time we reached a turn we hoped that the lake would just be on the other side, but it never was. Finally we saw the sweet sweet sign for a toilet and that indicated that the lake was nearby. We rushed up and over the little ridge and into the lake basin where the view was the best I’ve seen of this lake in 3 years. The sun’s rays were dancing off the still lake’s surface like ballerinas and the cool breeze off the little remaining patch of snow was very welcoming.

We stopped for lunch on a big rock outcropping. A few of our hikers (as well as a number of others) took a nice dip in the lake and while it was “quite chilly” in the water it was apparently very refreshing. Some folks even wore bathing suits under their hiking gear in preparation for a nice dip – this was an idea that had never occurred to me. We took a quick group photo (though some people had gone missing to play on other rocks and hang out in the forest) and started to make our way down the mountain. By the time we reached that dried up pond bed and tiny trickle of water we realized that our entire group had completely run out of water. Thankfully it was only a little over 2 miles left of downhill strolling to the parking lot.

Everyone made it out safe and sound and happy, but the happiness soon went away as we realized that we were going to be stuck in traffic on highway 2 for hours… oh well, we’d better stop at Zeke’s for some milkshakes and hamburgers (AND LOTS OF WATER) and then fight the traffic. And so we did and it was the best food ever (or so our hungry bodies thought). – The End