Lake Serene, Bridal Veil Falls — Tuesday, Jul. 5, 2022

Bottom Line: This is a wonderful paddling lake, getting away from the somewhat crowded north shore, and exploring the crystal-clear depths of the south end of the lake, with giant bounders and rock formations above and below the surface, and walls of snow calving into the lake (see video), all while dwarfed by the stunning peaks ringing the west shore of the lake, including Mt Index; outstanding! For the king of Alpine Lakes paddles, see the 7/25 trip report from Snow Lake

Stats:

• Distance: 11-1/2 miles (including pack-raft on lake)
• Vertical: 2830 ft
• Duration: 5-3/4 hours
• Trail Conditions: good condition, with just a few muddy areas; the trail to the Bridal Fall junction is about 1-1/2 miles of road-to-trail conversion and makes for a very easy forest walk; beyond that, the trail ascends steeply to the lake, but with many stairs throughout its distance that make the ascent much easier than it would otherwise be, and really saves one's knees on the descent; poles are helpful; there is a sign at the lake for Lunch Rock, a giant slab of granite overlooking the lake in all its glory, and with plenty of room in all but the most crowded of days
• Weather: Mix of sun and cloud; light wind generating a ripple on the lake
• Flowers: I would not describe this as a "flower trail", but plenty of flowers around including: salmonberry, buttercup, queen's cup, devil's club, purple geranium, heather, thimbleberry and trillium; lots of berries on the salmonberry bushes at low elevation
• Takeaway: Stunning lake and mountain views on a bright sunny day; I have wanted to pack-raft the lake for quite some time, and it is a winner! JUST WOW

Phone pictures only - my camera went on the fritz after hauling it up the mountain! 4K video uploaded but will take time to process to UHD

If you were on Lunch Rock yesterday, you might be in 360-degree video from the water!