Rachel Lake — Saturday, Jul. 2, 2011

Snoqualmie Region > Snoqualmie Pass

Wow! A beautiful day to hike today with temperatures in the 70's and sunny, although it felt much hotter than that in the lower elevations. Started at the trailhead at 10:30am. Trail conditions were perfect until one mile in. Patches of snow covered the trail and we lost the trail in some spots but headed parallel to the river and relocated it after a short time. I postholed about 6-7 times in places where the snow cover had a hollow spot below. Bring waterproof boots + gaiters or an extra pair. From about the 1 mile mark to the 3rd mile mark various parts of the trail were covered with either fallen trees or tree debris. One section of trees got completed flattened by an avalanche. Lots of snow berms to scale. The trail was not visible for about half the time. Then, the mile from hell began. The trail was snow free for a while but again fallen trees and debris made the trail difficult to find. Then about half way up the "Mile From Hell" the trail became completely covered with snow. You could not locate the trail anywhere, save for a few patches spread out over 1 mile. The only reason we continued on off the trail was because I had a map, compass. GPS is useless in the forest valley unless you happen to have a satellite directly above you at the time. We made it to Rachel Lake at around 3pm for lunch and it was completely covered with snow still, except where the lake meets the outlet stream. Going back was challenging but we made it out by 6pm. I would not recommend anyone try this hike for at least the next month, to let the snow pack melt, unless you are experienced with a map and compass. You will lose the trail for significant portions of this hike and have to be able to navigate without it. If you are able to though, it's worth the work for the views.