Denny Creek, Melakwa Lake — Tuesday, Jun. 10, 2025

A warm day to visit Melakwa Lake! As always, this trail is a classic ALW hike. It has everything, including cool forests, creek crossings, huge waterfalls, rocky talus, sparking lakes and towering peaks, plus subtle but plentiful alpine flowers along the way.

The heat and snow slowed us down a bit on this trip, but we still managed to make it to the lake in about 2:15 from the car - a great medium-distance hike.

TRAIL: The trail is in excellent shape, especially below Keekwulee Falls. It's obvious WTA and the Forest Service have done a bunch of work just above the Denny Waterslide, digging rocks out of the trail and putting in flat stepping stones in many places. Thanks for "taming" this wild and rocky area! Of course, the trail above the Waterslide is still very rocky much of the way up to Hemlock Pass, but that's just part of the character of this valley.

There are six blowdowns to contend with, all in the forested switchbacks on the Denny Creek side of Hemlock Pass. The blowdowns are all 24-36" logs. Two of them require crawling under, one is a step-over, and the other three are only partially blocking the trail so can be walked around.

The trail is a bit brushy in just a few places below Hemlock Pass - mostly vine maple that is starting to encroach on the trail. This could be taken care of in under an hour with some loppers or hand pruners.

There are some muddy spots on the trail, but it's mostly just due to snow melt and isn't that bad. There is one place nearing Hemlock Pass where a stream is running down the trail for about 150'. Fortunately, the trail is all rocks here, and the water is low enough that it's easy to get through without getting your feet very wet.

SNOW: There is no snow on the trail until the switchbacks below Hemlock Pass, about 4300'. Then there is intermittent snow up to the pass. On the back side of the pass there is only a tiny bit of snow. There is plenty of dirt and needles on the snow, so we didn't feel the need to put on our spikes. Poles were helpful though, especially on the way down. If you're not familiar with the trail, the snow covering it below Hemlock Pass may make it a bit challenging for you to figure out the route - it can be easy to miss a switchback. If you aren't comfortable with this, the snow should be pretty much gone in a couple weeks.

To get to the upper lake, or the camp sites on the other side, you currently need to cross some snow fields on the west side of the lower lake. This wasn't too difficult for us using poles - the main problem was punching through the snow to the talus. The crossing can be a bit scary, though, given that a slide would land you in the lake! This should be mostly melted out in about a week.

The water in both lakes is entirely free of snow and ice.

BUGS: The bugs are starting to come out, but didn't seem to be numerous or biting yet. The slight breeze at the lakes kept them away entirely, which was great.

CAMP SITES: I would guess about 50% of the campsites at Melakwa Lake are usable right now. The rest are covered in snow or pools of meltwater. The day use areas on both sides of the lake are snow-free.

KEEKWULEE FALLS: On the way down, we made the side trip over to Keekwulee Falls. This is a steep but short trail that takes off from a switchback just above the top of the falls. There are some cool rock benches that are a good spot for a break or a snack, and you can get right down to the creek to dip your feet in the water. Take care walking in the creek though, as the slabby rocks are extremely slippery, and the water flow is quite high right now. And stay well away from the big drops in the lower tiers of the falls - the final drop is almost 100'!