Gold Creek Pond, Gold Creek Trail to Alaska Lake — Thursday, Sep. 12, 2013

Snoqualmie Region > Snoqualmie Pass

This is a nice easy hike through forest to a view of impressive avalanche damage. The trailhead is east of Snoqualmie Pass (exit 54). The well marked parking area is about 200 yards from Gold Pond. This pretty pond was previously the site of a gravel pit used to construct I-90 in the 70's. They did an impressive job at rehabbing this into a nice lake. The lake is circled by a paved wheelchair accessible path. A short connector path takes off from the northeast corner of the lake to access a dirt road that unfortunately much be walked for 20 min before reaching the actual trail. In the past you could drive this section but now the road is gated. The true trail is a very pleasant forest walk with occasional avalanche chutes that afford views across the valley. A little less than 1 hour from the beginning of the true trail a relatively recent avalanche area is traversed with an impressive up hill blowdown of trees on the opposite side of the creek. It looks like a miniature version of Mt St Helens. This is a good turn around point for a short easy day hike.