Lake Serene, Bridal Veil Falls — Sunday, Dec. 20, 2020

Please don’t attempt this hike unless you have proper waterproof hiking boots with good traction. The trail is very slippery, muddy, rocky, rooty, and there are many streams to cross with water coming up past your ankles and possibly higher depending on when you go. We saw a young man who dislocated his shoulder slipping on a steep rock and fortunately was okay, but had to make the trek down  without using his arm. Also, although this trail allows dogs, the terrain is very rough and I can’t imagine how any pup could do this trail without tearing up their poor paw pads or worse, getting hurt from slipping on sharp rock or slick snowpack. Now that the warnings are out of the way, here’s some info on the trail. 

Getting to the trailhead is doable for any car. The lot is right off the main road and has enough room for about 40-50 cars. We arrived around 11am on a Sunday and the lot was about 3/4 full. The bathrooms are closed due to COVID so make sure you potty beforehand! 

The trail starts off really easy with a nice wide path and almost no elevation for about a mile. There is a stream crossing that can be difficult depending on what route you take- you can either get your boot and ankles wet and just cross to the other side or use the drier route but you’ll have to climb in between a big stump and rock and be fairly tall or flexible to get good footholds. After a couple miles you’ll reach the sign to Bridal Veil Falls. It’s a long and steep half mile from the main trail to get to the falls. There are A LOT of stairs (very beautifully and skillfully placed by work parties!) and multiple, narrow, rocky stream crossings. Again, without proper footwear it will be miserable (wet feet) and quite dangerous (slipping and falling). Once we reached Bridal Veil Falls, we were completely mesmerized. Because of the rainfall the night before, it was full and flowing like I’ve never seen before. It was powerful and incredible! You’ll want to put on your waterproof jacket and pants before you get to this point because you’ll get soaked from the mist coming off the falls. After spending a half hour soaking in the beauty we headed back down to the main trail and made our way to Lake Serene. The sign has unfortunately been vandalized and looks like it says 1.2 miles to the lake, but it’s actually 2 miles (felt like 3.5 to me 🥵). Most of the elevation is concentrated in these last 2 miles to the lake. You’ll cross MANY more streams at this point especially if there’s been a fair bit of rainfall in the days previous. The trail is much more narrow and the rocks and roots coming out of the ground can be difficult and very, very slippery to pass. You’ll encounter a ton more staircases as well, so make sure you’ve got good knees and your poles cause you’ll have to come down every staircase you go up. We reached another beautiful falls on the way to the lake and a brave man in nothing but skivvies taking an exhilerating dunk under the falls! About a mile from the lake you’ll start to see patches of snow that will quickly get thicker as you go on. At this point, the slipperiness goes up by 100. You’ll be trekking over a snow, slush, muddy mix on top of slippery wood stairs at a decent elevation. So be very careful. We brought our micro spikes which pretty much saved us from the slipping and sliding and possibly getting injured. We wore them the rest of the way up to the lake and kept saying that they were the best $40 we’ve ever spent especially after seeing people without them trying to get up and down the snowy terrain 😓 The sight of the lake left me completely speechless. It was definitely the best reward for quite a difficult hike. We arrived at the lake around 3pm and found a dry stump to have lunch on. The lake is barely frozen with an icy blue color underneath the thin sheet of ice. It’s breathtaking. In the distance you can hear avalanches coming down on Mt Index and the sight of it among the lake is truly spectacular. I couldn’t have asked for a better day. There is a very, very narrow bridge you can choose to cross to get the far side of the lake but again it’s very slippery, narrow, and only has handrails on one side. We saw a dog (unleashed) run across the bridge and come thisclose to falling into the icy lake. It was very scary to witness and thank God he was able to hang on and pull himself up. We started heading back around 4pm and made sure to put our headlamps on our head so we wouldn’t have to dig for them in the dark. The climb down in the dark took awhile longer than normal because of all the hazards on the trail. We had to be exceptionally careful not to trip or slip. BRING EXTRA BATTERIES FOR YOUR HEADLAMPS AND FLASHLIGHTS! You’ll need bright light heading down in the dark. We arrived back at the trailhead around 6pm. 

I wore high top and waterproof La Sportiva hiking boots with gaiters up to my knees and my feet stayed completely dry through the stream crossings and snow. 

We thoroughly enjoyed this hike but I can’t stress it enough to be prepared! This is not a hike for beginners or those without proper gear. 

My gps routed about 9 miles total doing both the falls and the lake. It took us 7 hours with a lot of picture stops and long lunch and snack breaks. Majority of the elevation is at the 1/2 mile before the falls and about 2 miles before the lake. 

About 90% of the people we passed wore masks! Most had very good trail etiquette and were very considerate and friendly. 

Hope this trip report helps you make good decisions on your next hike! Happy Hiking! 🥾