Blanca Lake — Saturday, Apr. 4, 2015

Central Cascades > Stevens Pass - West

Time of arrival: 9:22am # of cars at trailhead: 2 Total moving time: 4:41:03 Total elapsed time: 6:48:41 Gear used: gaiters, boots, trekking poles, had spikes (didn't use) Pack weight: ~25lb I had not been to Blanca since late summer, and I feel like I saw so many new/different things. First of all, the road to the TH is totally different. It seems like the road has been fixed/gravel was dumped on it, so the potholes are WAY better than before. Still quite a few, but not nearly as intense. I was the third car at the trailhead, thinking it would've been packed already since I was running late, but nope. Happy to see a few other people though. I think it's safe to say that Blanca will be muddy every time, except during the dry season. At mile .7 there is a pretty huge tree blowdown that you actually have to climb over. I had to take off my pack/camera to actually do it without falling. The tree is COLD. I actually noticed quite a few other very noticeable trees down that I haven't seen before. Maybe Blanca had a rough winter. I'm not sure if the incline is less intense in snow, or because my pack was lighter than normal But I did feel safer at the tiny "scramble" part. Snow is pretty much the entire half of it. The weather was mainly overcast the whole morning with light snow--I started worrying that when I got to the lake, it would be all white. Virgin Lake was just as anti-climatic as usual, possibly more interesting this time around because it was completely covered in snow. I think Blanca seems to be a longish hike because you have to climb up all the way up just to climb down and vice versa when you are heading back. Since I was one of the first few people on the trail, the snow was super fresh and heading down to the lake was no problem. I reached the lake and was literally taken back how gorgeous it is during the winter. The reflection with the ice thawing out was just amazing. I forget how close you are to it all. I took a few shots at the first viewpoint from above and headed down. It's interesting how the weather is so different at the lake than the actual climb up--beautiful clouds and blue skies surrounding it. I think Blanca is placed perfectly because the sun always hits it in the best possible way. Therefore, the colors always come through and the view is just breathtaking. At the bottom of the lake, the snow is pretty deep. I had some lunch on a log and talked to 2 guys I met. It started snowing a little, but the temperature was pretty perfect. I also talked to 2 guys and their 3 dogs who were spending the night. I was so jelly, but I had to be back for Easter and do laundry. Blanca is like the most perfect place to sleep for snow camping, can't believe I didn't think of it sooner. Hope they have a blast out there tonight. I wish I could've stayed all day at the lake, but had to head back. There is just something so peaceful about Blanca, every time. The traffic was pretty awesome too, not too many people, not too little. The snow on the trail became more packed as people came down, so they were extra careful coming down. I think if the snow got ever more packed, I would've used some spikes. But I made it back to the car safely with frozen toes. There were like only a handful of cars at the parking too, I was so shocked to see it so empty! It was such a great day to get and visit one of my favorite places, without all the heavy traffic!

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