Featured In: Day Hiking: Central Cascades, by Craig Romano.
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Myrtle is a quiet lake fringed with evergreens and craggy ridges. Grassy shores along its outlet encourage afternoon napping with their abundant sunshine. The destination is serene, but not so the journey. Dog- and kid-friendly during the week when motorized use is low, this hike is nevertheless a dusty slog. The warm lake waters, however, cleanse grubby legs along with disheartened dispositions.

Beginning in a mature forest of spruce and cottonwood, the near-level dusty path takes off up the Entiat Valley. No longer paralleled by road, the river here is wild, its headwater streams protected within the sprawling Glacier Peak Wilderness. Conservation-minded citizens would do the river and its immediate environs good by demanding that the wilderness border be moved to include all of the remaining roadless parcels surrounding it.

Finally, after about 1.2 miles, the wild Entiat comes into view. On tread sprinkled with soft pumice (thanks to a past eruption from Glacier Peak), the way gently marches up the valley, occasionally dipping slightly to break the monotony. Openings in the pine forest provide views westward and upward to Garland Peak and the Rampart Mountains.

At 2.2 miles reach a junction with the Anthem Creek Trail (elev. 3450 ft), a lonely, steep, and very demanding alternative route to 7819-foot Duncan Hill. About 0.25 mile beyond, cross Anthem Creek on a good bridge. Soon afterward the grade steepens to what amounts to the only real climbing on this hike. Meanwhile, the river has disappeared into a granite-walled gorge.

The way levels once again, coming to a junction at 3.6 miles. The Entiat River Trail continues straight for more than 10 miles to the meadowed basin beneath the glaciers that birth this river. Your objective, much closer, lies left via the Cow Creek Meadows Trail. Follow it, dropping slightly to cross the Entiat on a bridge, and then climb a little through a cool, forested glen to reach the lake (elev. 3765 ft). Motorcycles are not allowed past this point. Just before crossing Myrtle's outlet creek, a side trail takes off left 0.4 mile to busy campsites on the lake's southern shore.

A better option is to proceed forward a couple hundred feet, hopping across the outlet stream to an inviting grassy meadow on the lake's north shore. Wipe the dust off, kick back, and enjoy the serenity.