Tried to walk up to the Bridal Veil falls. The trail is in great shape and crowded up to the Serene/Bridal junction, but is blocked by a snow field soon after. The field is not large, but inclined and long, so the lack of equipment and the presence of an eight-year-old stopped us at this point. The falls on the Lake Serene portion of the trail are beautiful, though!

A pleasant, easy hike. However, I did take the spur trail to the falls, and it terminated at an ice/snow field that was a bit too risky for me to cross. I returned to the main Lake Serene trail, and proceeded another 1/2 mile or so to a beautiful mid-falls location. Great pictures-be prepared for a little spray! There was a dash of snow on the trail past the falls, but I returned before making it to Lake Serene. The steeper steps took their toll on my knees!

It was a chilly, rainy day, but we wanted to get up into the mountains, anyway. We found snow on the trail within a few hundred feet. The snow is wet and compacts easily so we were able to keep going, nonetheless. Snowshoes were not required. It looked like several others had taken a detour into the old mine claim area, and turned around. Not knowing the hike, we did the same thing, thinking it was the spur to the middle falls. Snow gets very deep in that direction. When we did find the spur trail, we followed it out a ways, but found it blocked by deep avalanche debris. It was cold and wet enough that we didn't continue on past the falls. The snow, as mentioned, is wet, and there is meltwater under the snow. Unless you have waterproof shoes, your feet will be soaked in short order. It was worth it though! The blowdowns were minor, and all passable.

Due to time constraints, my buddy and I were forced to stick to a shorter trail even after receiving reports that the trail to Lake Serene was snow free. The hike to Bridal Veil Falls (part of Bridal Veil Creek that serves as an outlet of Lake Serene) is short, only 4.2 miles round-trip. The trailhead is located off of Highway 2 and the falls lie within the confines of the Mount Baker Snoqualmie National Forest. Directions To get to the trailhead, travel east on Highway 2 (paved) from Monroe, WA. At milepost 35.2, about 21 miles east of Monroe, turn right onto Mount Index Road (Forest Road 6020 - gravel). Travel 0.3 mile on Forest Road 6020 and branch right onto Forest Road 6020-109 (gravel). The trailhead parking is just ahead. The junction is signed. Forest roads 6020 and 6020-109 are both passable to any passenger vehicle. A Northwest Forest Pass is required to park at the trailhead. There are two outhouses in the parking area, elevation: 600 feet. Trail Conditions The hike begins along an old forest road directly behind the trailhead kiosk. The trail was in good condition with a few muddy places. There is good signage along the trail's length and the junction where the trail splits, the left fork heading to Lake Serene, is marked. There were a few mosquitoes especially along the lower portions of the trail. The falls were flowing at high capacity and I was able to clamor over some creekside rocks to get some good close-up photos. The trail is entirely snow-free and there are no blow-downs to navigate over. Notes I counted 28 other vehicles in the parking area when we arrived and 27 vehicles when we departed. There were quite a few people on the trail and there seemed to be a lot of people out with their mothers celebrating Mother's Day. Most of these people were probably headed for Lake Serene because not many people were at the falls given the relatively large number of vehicles in the parking lot. The weather remained cloudy throughout the entire hike and I was able to make it wearing some nylon pants and a t-shirt with the occasional application of a sweatshirt. I also donned my gore-tex shell when venturing out around the base of the falls due to spray from the force of the water. All in all we had a great short little hike.

Today, due to time, we just did Bridal Veil and did not include Lake Serene...which we have in the past All in all, the trail is in good shape. There is a decent sink hole smack in the middle of the trail about 20-25 minutes in. Just past the sink hole, the trail does get a little tight due to growth. The rest of the trail was in prime condition all the way to the top of the falls. As always, a great early season trail.