Well Surprise Lake certainly had a "surprise" for me to find, but even with that, I think it was a great hike. The parking lot was completely iced over, but had enough texture so I didn't see anyone getting stuck. The first 3 miles are pretty easy going with well packed snow and just become more beautiful with every step. From there the trail began to climb up to the lake basin. This was a bit of a slog. I don't think this would be the case in warmer months when you can follow the correct trail, but the trail in the snow pretty much just went straight up. On the plus side at the top of the climb you are rewarded with a small alpine valley that is a picturesque winter wonderland with pristine snow, a lovely babbling stream, and gorgeous mountain views. The lake itself caps off the trip nicely at the end of the alpine valley.

I would highly recommend giving this trail a hike. WARNING: the traffic heading West on HWY 2 in the evening on weekends can be extremely bad. Plan on it taking hours to get through it all.

I also made a video from my hike if you are interested. I hope the video is part trail guide and part a shared experience hiking through the Alpine Lakes Wilderness in the beautiful Cascade Mountains Northeast of Seattle, WA.

My original plan was to go to nearby Lanham Lake with a friend new to snowshoeing but in the morning both she and another friend ended up having to stay home so I decided to head over to Surprise Lake hoping for less people.  After waiting twenty minutes for two trains, one of which stopped, I parked just on the other side of the tracks as the road to the trailhead was blocked with snow.  This added about .3 miles each way but snow on the trail meant a more direct approach overall.

Starting a little after 9am, I opted to have my snowshoes on based on the road. But I could have just used spikes all the way up to the junction with the foot bridge over Surprise Creek as there were bare spots on the road and trail up to this point.  Multiple stream crossings with steeply angled snow and a few thin snow covered logs meant spikes would have been less awkward.  The trail was also compact snow with a substantial trench also making snowshoes tricky.

Arriving at the log crossing over Surprise Creek just before 10am, I decided to keep on the west side for my approach to the lake this time.  One, I know it is possible when snow covered and two, I have a little PTSD from slipping off that log and into the creek so I'd rather have it happen on the way out rather than the way in (see my first trip report).  There were a few tracks on this side to start with but they soon ended.  I did see one piece of yellow flagging at the beginning but that was it.  This is where having taken a class like the Scrambling Course with the Mountaineers pays off.

My journey for the most part followed the creek up, aside from navigating around downed trees, streams and sketchy talus fields.  When in doubt, there were a set of critter tracks that for the most part seemed to know the best way to go. It was a refreshing perspective being on this side after so many trips on the other side.  It was also interesting seeing all the avalanche debris on this side and looking across at the trail on the other.  I wouldn't normally choose this trail because of that but we had a rare green avalanche forecast so I knew this was a good day to be here.

The snow was hard most of the time, but where the terrain steepens around the creek cascades at 3400ft and 3 miles in there was just a crust with powder underneath.  I was never sure when the teeth of the snowshoe would be enough or if I was going to have to dig in. Fun times.

There was a nice cliff band at 3580ft and I skirted it around on the right before coming back towards the creek.  Several streams descended from the lake and I stayed between them and the creek the best I could, crossing a few times to avoid obstacles.  Having heel lifts on the snowshoes was very helpful.

The terrain leveled out about a quarter mile from the lake and I arrived at 4.6 miles and 4490ft about 1:20pm just counterclockwise from the outlet.  There were some old tracks in the snow but not a soul in sight.  I enjoyed the sun, solitude and views on this blue bird, windless day. The only distraction was the occasion jet or two or three from Whidbey that like to do flyovers here.

I left the lake just before 2pm and opted to take the summer trail out. The tracks I followed actually crossed Surprise Creek to the west before the summer trail, there is enough snow over the large boulder resting in it to do so.  I could see tracks for those who had chosen to continue on and around the lake.

This did end up being a much faster route down but I can't say it was easier.  It was a compact trench most of the way except for where the switchbacks normally are but are non-existent for winter.  It would appear most folks are wearing just boots and/or spikes and there were tracks everywhere as they attempted the steep slope. My descent was a mixture of zigzag, glissade and turning around backwards.  I debated taking the snowshoes off but then I would see the deep potholing around boulders in the talus field that some folks did and opted to keep them on all the way until the foot log that crosses Surprise Creek.  There was even a section where the avalanche debris had flowed down recently and covered the trail. Based on the tracks I saw, folks have been taking the trail even during the high avalanche forecasts we have been having lately.

At the foot bridge over the creek, I switched to spikes for the rest of the trip, arriving back at my car at 4pm. There was another car parked next to me but I had not seen anyone all day.  I was surprised overall that I did not see more windstorm damage, there were just a few trees down in the first 2 miles and branch debris.  But it was obvious more trees have fallen in the last months, just now covered in snow.

More pictures and GAIA in link below.

Blog version (disclaimers)

Quick-and-dirty version

Access: Surprise Creek Trailhead
Round Trip: 10 miles
Elevation Range: 2180′-4940′
Gear: microspikes, snowshoes
GPS Track: available
Dog-Friendly: yes

Approach

1. Hike the Surprise Creek Trail to reach Surprise Lake in 4 miles.
2. Continue via the east of the lake and scramble another mile to reach Glacier Lake.

Highlights

• Expansive view of both lake basins
• Views Surprise Mountain, Spark Plug Mountain, and Thunder Mountain
• Late morning sunshine and solitude

Lowlights

• Freezing temperatures
• Hiking in the shade from Highway 2

Trailhead - very easy to get to from US2. Turn right about 0.3 after Iron Goat Interpretive Site, cross the railroad tracks and immediately turn right. The road has few potholes - but they are very easy to drive around even in a sedan.

We've started on a trail at 8:48 AM. Trail - first (short) portion - is just following the old logging road. Then turn left under the trees - by following the very visible trail sign. First half a mile is quite boring - very well maintained trail, wooden walkways and staircases - covered in ice and snow though. So the microspikes were needed almost from the beginning.

At mile 1.25 - first serious obstacle - a log bridge. Covered in 4" of ice and then 1 ft of packed snow. Two hikers in front of us - crossed it by sitting on a log and slowly sliding forward. We've done it by carefully walking in microspikes with the help of trekking poles to keep the balance.

Then nice and snow covered trails starts. Very visible path created in a deep snow (1-1.5 ft tunnel in snow).  The trail flows under the trees with a little bit of exposure to steep and snow covered slopes on the left and Surprise Creek on the right. Not enough snow on the slopes for avalanches yet. The trail crosses multiple streams - so in some cases we had to build snow bridges to pass.

Then at mile 2.5 - the trail ends, deep snow and pretty steep ascent starts. For 0.6 miles it's a set of switchbacks we had to build in a deep snow. Then the next 0.4 miles - the map shows a set of switchbacks through the boulder field - but we've decided to go up without doing any switchbacks. And it was exhausting. Sometimes we would fall into snow caves in between boulders - which were 3-6ft deep. We've gained 1000 ft in less than a mile. Google Earth shows max slope at 56%.

Then another quarter mile of nice walk in a deep snow with 300ft of elevation gain.

Then - another obstacle just about 100ft from the lake - crossing Surprise Creek again. This time - huge 6-8ft snow5covered boulders with 2-3ft of water flowing under the snow around boulders. So we had to compress the snow across the boulders and over the stream - to cross the creek (see the photo below).

By the timer we've reached the lake - around 1:30PM - it was snowing quite heavy. The lake was visible - but visibility was disappearing very fast. So we've boiled water, had some tea and hot meals and started our descent back to the cars. Made it in about two hours.

Ventured out to Surprise Lake to tackle the snowshoe route. It was a demanding and fun hike on a sunny "winter" day. Perfect blue sky and no wind at the frozen lake to enjoy the views, lunch, and the birds. Heard what sounded like avalanches in the surrounding mountains a few times but could not spot them. Saw zero other people. The stats on WTA are wrong, this is a more demanding snowshoe than indicated. We stopped at the beginning of the lake, though you can go all the way to the end. Gaia stats: 8.6 miles, 2,900' ascent, 5:12 total time with 1:06 stop time. You need to be avalanche aware. Though the majority of the hike is in heavily treed areas, there are some steep sections and some more open slopes that you have to traverse. There are also boulder fields and lots of areas with running water. You need to navigate these carefully. Postholing is a potential. Route finding is also a challenge once the trail gets steeper, around 3 miles in and then becomes obvious again about a mile later. There were sometimes no tracks and sometimes too many tracks. We have never been here before so relied on Gaia GPS to navigate through this section and occasionally made our own tracks. Gear used: Mountaineering Boots, Gaiters, Microspikes, Mountain Snowshoes, Poles. 

Road and Trailhead Conditions: Turn right immediately after crossing the active train tracks and follow that road until the end, about 0.2 miles. There is some construction going on in the area and signs indicating that things are closed, including covers over the trailhead signs. But the road was open and we had no issues. No toilets at the trailhead. Only room for 3-4 cars. Last section of road has some snow and ice, though it is flat. My car has 4.5" clearance and scraped some of the snow in the center of the road, so I just drove with one wheel in the center where I could. 

Trail Conditions: Snow and ice started right away, even on the short bit of road that goes up the power lines. So we put on microspikes right away. Trail is snow covered essentially the entire way. Snow level goes from 1" to probably 2-3' at the lake. Trail is pretty obvious for about 3 miles right now and is doable in just boots, then the tracks seem to end. So we got out the snowshoes and made our own track. Occasionally, we came across the boot track again and rejoined the trail. At about 4 miles in the trail becomes very obvious again and we followed it to the lake. It looks like all others who had been there were in boots. But snowshoes definitely made the going easier. There are many challenges on the trail. There are some open slopes that present potentially avalanche danger, though I think because it's in the forest, there aren't any major dangers there. There are many streams running under the snow, so need to be careful not to punch through. Mostly you can see them since the snow cover is not that deep right now. There are several boulder fields to cross. Up high the snow seems pretty deep but down lower again you have to watch for postholing. All in all a good workout on a sunny day. You won't have the sun on you until you get to the lake itself.