Snow Lake — Wednesday, Jul. 27, 2022

07/27 Update: Paving and delays on Alpental Road are complete this morning (https://twitter.com/hashtag/Alpental?src=hashtag_click)

Bottom Line:

A drop-dead gorgeous lake paddle with a lot of variety as one circumnavigates the far half of the lake counterclockwise, from an island with granite shelves (amazing swimming spot), to submerged granite domes rising from the depths like coral reefs, waterfalls (3 very large ones), icefields, a trip through "iceberg alley" (CAUTION: ice/snow can shift) and the stunning cliffs on the south shore of the lake (CAUTION: rock fall possible); see video for a journey recap

Stats:

• Duration: 4-3/4 hours
• Distance: 10 miles (including lake paddle, see map)
• Vertical: 1950 ft
• Weather: sunny, warm, ~85F, light wind; hike was a little hot :)
• Trail: Excellent condition with no snow all the way to the log bridge at the lake outlet, which is where I put in; most notable flowers at the lake are bear grass and heather, and on the ascent paintbrush, tiger lilies, cow parsnip, columbine and fleabane; the mosquitos were mildly annoying at the lake when preparing my boat, but otherwise fine if you kept moving; the trail will close for a several-month project starting ~ June 29th but happy the lake melted out so I could make this trip!
• Road: Roadwork with intermittent delays (repaving); lots of parking on a Monday afternoon
• Takeaway: A completely different perspective and experience on Snow Lake; if I had to choose one local lake for all future packraft trips, this would be the one; breathtaking with lots of nooks and crannies to explore; the water is SO CLEAR... breathtaking

Snow Lake takes recent paddles on Lake Serene and Lake Melakwa to a whole new level. The lake is much larger with a lot of really interesting features to explore on the water. The modest vertical to carry your boat up is also a plus of course, which means you may not be alone :) A winner - amazing... just WOW

The trail is transformed from my 6/30 trip where the lake was still largely frozen and the descent down the backside to lake was a bit of a challenge. I did see where my first attempt on the summer trail went wrong when I missed a switchback - part of the reason I found myself on a too-steep snow slope and turned back initially :)

Mountain views on the water are completely different than from the trail, in particular views up to Dutch Miller and LaBohn gaps at the end of the Snoqualmie Middle Fork valley from the opposite side of the lake.

CAUTION: The south shore of the lake is all cliffs and snowfields, so there are really no places to retreat to shore in an emergency; the north shore (where the trail to Gem Lake is located) is much safer in this respect. You might also place any blow-up raft in the lake for a bit to cool it down and allow the air to shrink, and then blow it up some more. This will present the boat from shrinking too much while you are out on the lake, as the lake is very cold right now :)

In the attached 4K video, you can see the paddle through iceberg alley at ~2:50 and a massive snow bridge over a waterfall at ~3:50 (surely not long for this world but being held up by its arch shape). The island appears early in the video - would love to swim here later this summer, but that might not be possible with the trail closure. Next year!!