Greider Lakes
Jul 20, 2006
- Type of Outing
- Day hike
- Read More in our Hiking Guide
- Hike: Greider Lakes
- Region: Central Cascades -- Stevens Pass - West
- Agency: Department of Natural Resources, Northwest Region Office, Sedro-Woolley
- Avg Rating: 2.83
- Be Aware Of
- Bugs
With other people's plans once again intruding on both ends of my day, I abandoned tentative plans to get down to Rainier, and decided to take a look at Greider Lakes instead.
There are 10 miles of gravel road to traverse to get to the trailhead, but it's all fairly even with little in the way of potholes - no trouble for any car short of a Ferrari, and perfect for the Scooby. I paused at the Olney Pass registration site, and as soon as I stopped the car it was surrounded by a fair number of wasps. They surrounded me too when I got out, so it wasn't just the Subaru electric blue attracting their attention. They weren't acting obviously aggressive, but they were buzzing close, and stuck with me when I moved around - I figured there was a nest about, and I didn't fancy finding out where, so I got back in the car instead of lingering to register. Sorry. One wasp followed me inside, but left through the window happily enough when I opened it.
I got to the trailhead at 12.30, with two cars there before me. A fly bit me at the trailhead within minutes as I swapped shoes for hiking boots, so I applied an industrial coating of bug repellent and had no further hassles. I met the two parties leaving as I hiked up and had the lakes to myself. I must have timed it right - another group was on their way up as I left.
The nearly two mile climb up to the ridge is rocky and rooty, with some fairly steep steps in places - one of those trails that's not a whole lot faster on the trip down than the trek up, and that feels tougher than its stats of 1350 feet gain. This section of the trail is heavily wooded, with some woodland flowers still lingering along the way, and glimpses of the beautiful blue Spada Lake through the trees for most of the climb. There are several places where streams cross the path or close by it, and evidence that parts of the trail get muddy at any sign of rain.
Once up on the ridge, the trail conditions improve markedly, much smoother (as well as level!), and Little Greider appears suddenly right by the path as you round a corner after another few hundred yards. The path follows its wooded shores round over the outlet creek and climbs up less than a hundred feet more to reach Big Greider. It's nice to have two such contrasting lakes on such a short hike - just over 2.5 miles if you don't detour. Little Greider is tree-ringed and entirely calm, reflecting green and with many water lilies, some still flowering. Big Grieder sits in a rocky bowl, with trees only at the tip nearest Little Greider, much more exposed and blue.
The trail to Big Greider gets quite overgrown with ferns, and would make for damp hiking if there were any moisture in the air. This section of hike is mostly treeless and exposed, with an entirely different selection of flowers, including distinctive Columbia lilies. Where there are trees, there were the usual clouds of flies here and there over the trail - nothing too horrible, but definite breathe-through-your-nose territory. All the campsites at both lakes had a lot of flies around them, but once I got out onto the logjam at Big Greider away from the trees, I left the six-legged wildlife behind for a peaceful lunch in the sun, with just enough breeze now and then to keep the heat pleasant.
There'll be a few more pics up at http://eelpi.livejournal.com/ but alas, not many. My camera declared its batteries dead after just one shot of Big Greider (I know, I should have taken the spares!), and I'd been saving Little Greider for the softer light on the way back. But this is a nice, quick hike, and I suspect I'll be back in the Autumn as the higher trails start acquiring snow.
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Big Greider
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