It’s been over 5 years since I last hiked to Blanca lake and looking forward to visiting this gorgeous lake on the first day of November.
Road to TH. After you leave the pavement, parts of the dirt road are wash-boarded and sections are riddled with potholes. No snow or ice on the road. I still think any car can make it to the trailhead. If you are in a lower clearance car just know that you are going to need to drive slower to avoid the potholes and few you just can’t get around - your drive to the trailhead will just take you longer, but you can make it without damaging your car. The lot had about 10ish cars by the time we arrived at 8:30 am. Plenty of spots left.
No NW Forest pass required currently as I believe they are not servicing the trail (I saw a sign stating no passes) Bathroom was locked. Please pack out your TP if you need to find a spot in the woods. There are toilets before reaching Virgin and Blanca Lake. Both signed and tagged to lead you to your throne.
Trail was as I remembered - a workout. Those switchbacks are pretty relentless, but eventually even out once you reach Virgin Lake which was partially frozen. Great peekaboo views of Glacier Peak too. Just before Virgin lake the trail became icy. I saw people just hiking through without spikes and using poles. For this section, I put on my spikes on and was able to move quickly. Shortly after leaving Virgin Lake I felt spikes were no longer needed and I just used my poles. The trail was mostly muddy at this point. Then it was time to descend down to the lake. Nothing notable to advise and soon we got our first sneak peek of Blanca Lake. It was gorgeous. We continued hiking down to the lake and found a log to sit on and enjoy the views and a snack. I think about 5 other people were down there and by the time we left a trickle more came down too. The trail wasn’t crowded and everyone was mindful of letting others get by and put on masks.
Please note the weather can change quickly this time of year. Just because I had great weather and ideal conditions doesn’t mean in the next day or two it won’t be totally different. Bring extra warm clothing and ideally trekking poles and traction for your shoes (love mircrospikes) and as always your 10 essentials. One of my fav sites to check the weather before hiking is weather.gov.
If you are interested I made a little video of the hike. Video and link down below. https://youtu.be/u2h-35Dxw8U
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