Today we showshoed to Surprise Lake. Access road was impassable due to deep snow. We parked by the railroad tracks and headed up at 8:15am. We were the only ones on the trail.
Used snowshoes the entire way as the powder was deep. We followed tracks to the summer route log crossing where they stopped. Did not cross the log, instead broke trail up the right side of the drainage through deep powder. Avalanche awareness, navigation, and route finding skills are necessary for this hike.
The route follows the drainage up the valley and crosses below avalanche terrain. Saw pinwheels and sluffs higher up, but decided it was OK to continue. At 3500ft we found a spot to cross the fast running creek. Cut over to the summer route to avoid steep terrain to our right.
As we sweated and our thighs burned from breaking trail, the sun came out. We saw how wild & beautiful the trail was today with no evidence of humans anywhere. Nature at it's most natural.
About halfway up the final steep section to the lake, 2 hikers caught up to us. They thanked us for breaking trail and offered to lead for a while. We now had a team of four to make the final (hardest) push to the lake. The boulder field at the lake's outlet was covered in pillows of powder. Our photo doesn't really show how wonderful it was. The lake itself was simply stunning.
We enjoyed a long lunch at the lake while watching the sun set low over the horizon. No issues on the descent.
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