Pete Lake, Lemah Meadow — Saturday, Jun. 26, 2021

I hiked from the Pete Lake Trailhead to Pete lake, Lemah Meadows, and then to the summit of Lemah. (Also, does anyone know how to pronounce Lemah? I've heard at least 3 variations).

The trail to Pete lake is fairly good though it has a number of small stream crossing where you have to balance on logs or get your feet wet. At one point you cross a larger stream on a large log. The bugs in this section are terrible and will get you even if you're running. There are patches of snow still on the ground but nothing difficult to cross.

From Pete Lake to Lemah Meadows gets a little more difficult. It starts out on a basic trail until the trail reaches Lemah Creek. From here there are three options: Option 1 (Shortest): This option involves crossing Lemah Creek twice. Cross Lemah Creek at the ford where the trail reaches the creek (it's fairly swift right now).Then head up the remnants of a trail that parallels the river on the south side of the river until you reach the PCT. Note, there are only remnants of the trail here, I lost that trail at many points and ended up bushwhacking. When you reach the PCT, head right (North) and cross Lemah Creek again at the missing bridge on the PCT. The other two options are both farther but is on trail the whole way instead of off trail. The other two routes head left or right at the ford to connect up to the PCT then head back to Lemah Creek.

The trail to Lemah meadows starts on the PCT just north of the bridge that is out over Lemah Creek (picture of the missing bridge below). The Make sure you know the route as the trail is small, involves some scrambling, and disappears frequently. However, the route simply goes up the valley and you stay on the north side of Lemah creek so bushwhacking can get you to Lemah meadows even if you lose the trail. As you are heading up the valley you have two options: 1. stay close to Lemah Creek and you will come out in Lemah Meadows. Option 2.  head slightly north onto the open slabs and reach knoll that has a beautiful view out over Leamah meadow. There are faint bootpaths heading both directions.

Reaching Lemah Meadows is well worth the trek. Lemah Meadows is a stunning and picturesque valley with a crystal clear river gently flowing through the valley and reflecting the mountains above. The meadows are open and frequented by deer and elk. Whinnimic falls is at the head of the valley and Lemah Peak stands majestically above the valley. Stepping into the valley feels like walking into a magical world.

The meadows can be either dry or swampy depending on time of year. Crossing the meadows toward Lemah Peak will likely require getting your feet wet. Currently there are dry patches and swampy patches. If you wanted to camp here, you could likely find a dry patch of ground for a tent. Bugs were non-existent, surprisingly.

To reach the summit of Lemah, I chose to head up the valley to the north of Whinnimic falls and then to cut back across in the middle of the cliff band to reach the base of Lemah Peak. The route is nearly completely snowed in from here to the summit. The views as you head up the valley continue to be incredible as countless waterfalls pour off the side of Lemah. However, these streams had cut significant holes under the snow in the valley creating significant danger of falling through the snow if you hiked up the snowfield. I ended up hiking up  the edge of the snowfield and then heading off the snowfield and onto rock to cross each stream and avoid the danger of punching through the snow and was glad I did after seeing the massive carve outs under the snow. If you head up this way use extreme caution crossing these snowfields.

The push to the summit of Lemah is mostly class 4 with a few sections approaching class 5. The summit will give you amazing views of all the nearby peaks and off into the distance.

360 photos in the links below.

More Information on this Trip Report

• https://goo.gl/maps/ZYhTwM78j1TdCvR57
• https://goo.gl/maps/Ka9drVxDoj4KLTXW6