Hyas Lake #1376,Marmot Lake #1066
Aug 28, 2007
- Type of Outing
- Day hike
- Read More in our Hiking Guide
- Hike: Hyas Lake
- Region: Snoqualmie Pass -- Snoqualmie Pass
- Agency: Okanogan and Wenatchee National Forests, Cle Elum Ranger District
- Trails: Hyas Lake (#1376)
- Avg Rating: 1.83
I took the pooch for a three-day backpack into the Alpine Lakes Wilderness last weekend (Sunday to Tuesday, August 26th to 28th.) We got a very late start on Sunday, and the persistent drizzle made hiking somewhat unpleasant. I hate that cold, clammy feeling. I had hoped to make Marmot lake the first day, but bailed on that when we had only reached Deception pass at 5:30 pm. We found a nice campsite in the woods a little ways before Hozzbizz lake and went to bed early.
Monday brought a complete weather change, clear skies, hurray! The pup and I took our time hiking over to Hozzbizz lake, and checked out that area some, as it is very scenic and pleasant. We then dropped down a really annoying 600 vertical feet, though the trail is actually nice, sweet old growth forest and huckleberry parkland, interspersed with meadows rich with salmon berries. ""Berry delays"" would ""plague"" us the rest of the hike. The elevation lost must be immediately regained, and then some, on the push up to Marmot lake. The trail was a bit brushy in a few stretches, no problem otherwise.
Marmot is an impressive lake. It's pretty big, and has a very clear blue color. The shores are rocky with several convenient access points, great for swimming as there's no muck or mud. Cliffs surround the lake, one high enough to be named, Terrace Mountain. Daisy and I camped on a little peninsula about a quarter mile from where the trail meets the shore, going to the left. There was no one else there, from Monday afternoon until Tuesday afternoon when we left.
We crashed early again, since I had plans for the middle of the night. My alarm watch went off at 2:45 am, and I grabbed my sleeping bag and sleeping pads and went outside, down to the smooth rock slab that bordered the lake. There I stretched out and watched the lunar eclipse go ""total"". It was awesome, in a slow-motion kind of way. The result was the moon was dark, dusky red in the exact center, with a lighter, salmon-red around the edges. I stayed up long enough to hear Dark Side of the Moon (of course), then hustled back into the tent to continue my slumbers. Daisy wanted no part of any old moon, she stayed in the tent.
Tuesday was another beautiful day, so we lounged in the sun, and went swimming in the lake, and generally enjoyed ourselves. We spent hours and hours Monday and Tuesday picking blueberries. I must have eaten a gallon, between both days, including the dozens of huge salmon berries on the trail to and from marmot. Daisy picks her own blueberries, at least she does when I make her. She's content to eat any I'll pick for her. She moves the leaves aside with her nose, then uses her tongue and top teeth to pluck the juicy morsels.
The hike out turned into a bit of a death march, about 8.5 miles from where I camped. But it was only bad at the end, when I was tired and hungry. The segment from Hyas lake to the trailhead seemed to go on forever.
A few things I forgot to mention:
Elk. We heard them bugling, then heard some crashing off through the woods upon our approach, and saw some elk poop.
Bugs. There were some around, biting gnats and mosquitoes, but they were never really bad, and mostly left us alone. Some DEET during the evening hours or around swampy areas when hiking did the trick nicely.
Road to Hyas TH: Bad as always, potholes, washboarding, rocks, a real crummy road, and long, too. There are a couple of short stretches of recent repairs that are even crummier than the rest of the road. A low-clearance vehicle could bottom out. I did see a low-rider minivan get through OK with extreme care.
Trail conditions: generally good. A WTA work crew was out doing work in the Hozzbizz area. They made the ""Salamander"" (my name for it) pictured below. They said Daisy was the first ""person"" to cross it. I was second.
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The Salamander
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