My goal was to hike to the summit of Wright Mountain, which is next to Gem Lake. I almost turned around at Gem lake but was encouraged by another hiker to finish my goal and climb that mountain. The 360 degree views at the top were awesome. I could see Glacier Peak to the north and I believe Baker Mt. Looking down I could see Snow lake, Gem lake, lower Wild Cat lake, upper Wild Cat lake, and the Middle Fork Snoqualmie River.

At the trail head I met 3 other gentlemen and hiked to Snow lake with them. I took them up the old trail which is by way of Source lake. This old trail is not maintained. After Source lake, the trail is partially wiped out by rock slides. The old trail went past a little water fall/stream and made a couple switch backs then came back to where the water fall drops off the cliff. After the falls the trail is pretty identifiable, and passes meadows with ponds and bear grass.  Once reaching the main trail just past the Snow lake view rock on top, the 3 other men headed back via the main trail. I continued on to Snow lake. Someone had a drone which was being controlled at the view rock. They probably did not know drones are not allowed in the Alpine Wilderness area.

While hiking around Snow lake, I met up with a couple from out of state. He was from Kentucky and she was from southern California. They only had time for one hike in Washington so they picked Gem lake (actually Wright Mountain, but they turned around at Gem). We hiked for a while, and then a lady with her dog heading to Gem lake joined us. She welcomed the company for confidence she would stay on the right trail. The trail is not hard to follow to get to Gem, but there are several side trails. We did see several people taking a swim in the cold water of Snow lake.

I really did not notice many bugs along the trail, but when we reached Gem lake, they come out in force and I lathered up with Deet, which solved my issue with the bugs.

Wright Mountain is a short 1/2 mile up-hill from Gem lake, which took me 40 minutes. There is no trail sign telling me where the go. I passed the trail up, as shown on my GAIA app, as I was walking along the trail going around Gem lake. Once I realized what I had done, I headed up a trail taking me to a campsite with some campers. They gave me directions to get started. The trail up is pretty steep. Once passing the dirt section, the trail disappears and the climb is through rocks and talus. There are some routes marked in some of the rock fields but there is no one set route. Just continue up the rock field to the top, however you chose to go, and you will get there.

Once down off Wright Mountain, and down the trail for a mile, another lady caught me and we hiked back together.

This was a scramble traverse trip with the Mountaineers. It was a long day with over 13 miles of travel, 5,976 feet of elevation gain, and 6,834 feet of elevation loss. Overall an incredible day!

We started our journey at 4AM at the Issaquah Transit Center. We drove in three cars to the Denny Creek trailhead and consolidated the group into two cars leaving one car behind. The two cars went to Alpental and we began our journey a little after 5:30AM. 

The weather was clear and we enjoyed fantastic views throughout the trip. Everyone had an ice axe, helmet, and wore mountaineering boots for most of the trip. Many of us brought water filters and a liter water bottle to refill our water supply throughout the day.

Wright Mountain required no gear to reach the summit. We left our packs at Gem Lake and reached the summit with ease. After summiting Wright Mountain, we filtered water at Gem Lake. We switched into our mountaineering boots and wore helmets when we travelled to Mt. Roosevelt. This required route-finding skills as the trail wasn't very distinct.

Mt. Roosevelt was the most challenging of the three peaks we climbed that day. It was very steep and the rock was super loose, so it was essential to move methodically to prevent any potential harm. We used our ice axes to help us get up the heather to the summit. I carried a rope on my back just in case we needed a line down. We ended up not using it.

We continued to travel carefully to Chair Lake as we scrambled down a chossy gully. We dealt with plenty of loose rock here and made constant warning calls. Chair Lake was really nice and we were able to refill our water supply with ease. 

Traveling from Chair Lake to Kaleetan Peak required snow travel around the lake and up another steep gully. We could hear a stream below the snow at the bottom of the gully but we experienced no post holing as we moved conservatively. We traversed through another choosy rock field past the gully towards the White Ledges of Kaleetan.

The White Ledges were super solid for scrambling. There was very little loose rock here and we only had helmets and our mountaineering boots for specific gear. The route up to the summit of Kaleetan was fairly straightforward and solid. There was exposure but I never felt unsafe. The summit views were gorgeous from Kaleetan. We down climbed with no issues and took the long way to Melakwa Lake which required more route-finding.

We reached the Denny Creek trailhead 16 hours later. I had a super amazing time doing it! 

I thought the trail would be  a lot more crowded with the parking lot so full at 7:30am, but it wasn't bad at all. I hiked to Snow Lake, Gem Lake, Wright Mountain, and then to Source Lake on the way down. The hike up to Snow Lake had plenty of views on the way, the trail isn't too steep, but really rocky. I kept on up to Gem Lake, and up Wright Mountain. Going around the right side of the lake there is a sign that says campsites, thats where you want to turn left and start heading up, if you reach the sign for Wildcat Lake you went to far. There is a boot path pretty much all the way to the top if you can stay on it, and the views from the top are amazing. On the way down I decided to go to Source Lake since it was only .5 miles from the trail junction, I ended up going way too far and ended up at the talus slope below Chair Peak, which wasn't all bad since I was scouting it out anyways, but you pass the lake high above it, and have to go down a talus field to get to the lake, which is probably a good 500ft down. 

I am on a quest to find the out-of-the-way, unusual places to hike. Last fall, while looking at Snow Lake from the saddle, I noticed a small peak behind Gem Lake which looked like it could be fun. I discovered it is called Wright Mountain and there is a trail there. The trail is unsigned and slightly challenging to follow but the rewards are great. This is a secluded spot with amazing views, close to the popular and crowded snow lake trail.

To find it, take the trail to Gem Lake. continue to the NE corner where the campgrounds are. There are trails up the hill to the campgrounds. Take that then continue on the trail that leads up the hill. This will put you between Wright Mountain to the left and the smaller Wright Mountain-South East Peak to the right. There is a trail leading to the left which will eventually head steeply uphill. There are several cairns along the way and you will have to cross some talus, lots of which has a defined trail. Just watch for the cairns and keep heading uphill. It's about 1/2 mile from the Gem Lake campgrounds and not too hard to find.

There is a peak register in a white PVC pipe. Make sure you sign it. Who maintains this thing anyway?

The is definitely a worthwhile place to visit and worth braving the Snow Lake crowds.

On the way back between Gem Lake and Snow Lake several people asked how much further it was. That trail between snow lake and gem lake always seems longer than it should be.

Also, the sign at the junction of Gem Lake Trail, Snow Lake, and Middle Fork Road trail has rotted and broken off. It is propped up against the rocks but needs some TLC (probably just a new sign). I posted a photo of what it looks like now.

Arrived at the parking lot at ~7AM. Maybe a dozen cars already parked. Encountered a handful of other parties on the hike up to Snow Lake. Hike to snow lake was in great shape. Last weekend there were still some snow crossings but they've all melted off at this point. Beautiful clear morning. 

Hike to gem lake was less trafficked but also clear and in great shape with the exception of one downed tree over the trail. There's evidence of people going around it. Over and under are both options as well depending on comfort. 

The trail up to the fork for wright mountain is less obvious once you near gem lake. Stay right on the rocks when it starts opening up to the lake. Trail after the sign for the campgrounds at gem lake is much less obvious, much narrower, and requires a decent amount of route finding. We still had to cross several small snowfields after this fork. Didn't have spikes and they weren't necessary but we were glad to have poles. Trail is rough, steep, and it's a scramble up to the summit with a lot of the rock being somewhat slick particularly in areas that still have some snow melt. We were glad to have a GPS track showing the summit trail as it's very easy to lose in several places - particularly with the snow fields. There are cairns once you enter the boulder field that made navigation pretty easy. Summit log mentioned several people who made it up with dogs but I'd hesitate to do this with dogs or kids unless they're experienced. Beautiful 360 degree views of the lakes and mountains and we were lucky enough to get a day with perfect weather. The total seclusion of this trail was a nice break from the crowds that you'll experience on the trail on any given weekend day. 

As expected, the hike out on a sunday afternoon was extremely busy and we encountered a ton of people coming up. Weather was starting to turn cloudy and we heard rolling thunder several times but avoided any rain. Lots of unleashed/muddy dogs running far ahead of their parties which was clearly making some other hikers uncomfortable. Please leash your dog if it's not well trained to stay close to you on the trail. Top parking lot was near full when we got back to our car at 3PM.