From recent New Year trip reports, I was expecting an unfrozen lake. Surprise, Lake Serene was ice today. Not a surprise, this hike was SO wet. Last time I was here was in 2024, and boy does the trail need a lot of TLC due to recent landslides and fallen trees. Expect areas of mud, unavoidable puddles and water crossings, broken trail sections, trees to climb over or crawl under, and constant whacking in the head by vegetation due to trail overgrowth or pressure from snow.
Crampons were helpful for the last 2 to 3 hundred feet of elevation, but that might change over next couple of days with more snow and dropping temps. No views today but the snowy sections were still beautiful. If lunch rock is your destination, the bridge over the lake’s logjam outlet is covered in snow that can be slippery and a little unstable, so take extra care there. Also, it’s a bit unnerving to hear avalanches that sound like cannon fire around the lake.
My original plans for today were impacted, so I ended up with a late start on this hike. I had to hike out by flashlight, and was surprised that I was not alone in doing this with two other hiking parties doing it as well. For this trail, I don’t recommend doing this if you can avoid it. I was also surprised to see a new trail had been created near the second crossing of the creek coming in from the trailhead. I accidentally took it on the way down and saw that it did pretty well in preventing two back to back crossings of the creek in that area. Yep, this hike today was full of surprises.
Comments