Circle Peak, Crystal Lake & Meadow Mountain — Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024

I ventured out to Diamond Lake off of the Meadow Mountain Trail in the Glacier Peak Wilderness for a little rainbow hunting.  I followed the directions for the Circle Peak Trailhead, as the official Meadow Mtn TH is unreachable by car, thanks to washouts.  There is no official parking area, just a handful of pullouts near the end of the road.  There was one other car there on a Tuesday.

The trail heads steeply up to a junction: left to Circle Peak and right to Crystal Lake.  I turned right and ambled the 2.2 miles to the lake on very well maintained trail. Once there, I skirted the lake to the south and picked up the user trail which leads to Meadow Lake.  This path is well defined and easy to follow, but it is very steep, overgrown, muddy and littered with down trees.  One particular blowdown requires some serious hiker gymnastics to get past.  Once at Meadow Lake, fill up on water, since the ridge ahead is dry.  I climbed the .7 miles to the junction with the Meadow Mtn. Trail.  Turning east, I hiked through more beautiful forests and spectacular meadows, punctuated by the occasional blowdown and some sloping tread, for approx. 2.5 miles to the top of a ridge SW of the summit of Meadow Mtn. There is a great campsite here but no water.  The trail continues on another 1.7 miles to a huge, breathtaking meadow and the turnoff for Diamond Lake, which is unmarked.  There is no trail on the SW side of the ridge, so knowing where to go up and over can be tricky.  I bushwacked uphill to the line of trees at the top of the ridge and worked my way along them until I found an easy way through.  Once on the other side of this narrow band of woods, I could see Diamond Lake below, and walked SE along the ridge until I found the faint fisherman's path leading steeply down to it's marshy shores.

I set up my tarp shelter and assembled my fishing pole for the rainbow hunt.  I could see that weather was moving in and the trout were beginning to jump.  They bit well for about an hour as the rain started to fall.  Suddenly, all the activity ceased and the wind began picking up.  I retreated to my shelter and was left to ponder that old weather addage about fish rising before rain and going to the bottom before wind.  I played my pennywhistle and looked at maps for a few hours as the storm blew through.  In the evening it cleared up, and I was able to get back to fishin' until dark.

I woke around 4 a.m. to the sound of a mouse rummaging around my shelter.  I lifted my pack and it literally came over to me and sniffed my hand before walking around casually like it owned the place. I scooped it up and tossed it (gently!) out of my shelter.  Came right back.  I checked my stuff for chew marks: nothing, so I let it stay.

Once the sun came up more weather rolled in and it started to snow. I broke camp and started back up the trail.  Hiking out in the falling snow through blueberries, mountain mist and forests bursting with mushrooms was pure backpacking euphoria.

Summary: ~17 miles RT w/~4000 Ft elevation gain, 10 hours moving time

"Fear nothing! Have peace until the morning! Heed no nightly noises!"

-J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring