Spectacle Lake — Thursday, Jul. 14, 2016

Snoqualmie Region > Salmon La Sac/Teanaway

Four experienced backpackers did a 5-day 20-mile loop from Pete's Lake to Spectacle Lake, and down via Mineral Creek with a short car shuttle between the trailheads. We spent one night at Pete's Lake, 2 at Spectacle Lake, and one at Park Lake. The bugs were really bad at Park Lake. Hiking was difficult due to lack of trail maintenance - although there was a WTA youth crew doing some projects in the beginning miles. We probably scrambled over, under or around at least 60 big trees across the trail, mostly on the way up to Spectacle Lake. It got daunting when we were climbing at the same time. And on the way down, the trail was so narrow and the bush so high we often couldn’t see the ground we were walking on. There were 3 stream crossings - we had to take off our boots and carefully pick our way through knee-high rushing water. It's beautiful country, though, lots of wildflowers, jagged peaks, sparkling lakes, and lush foliage. Huckleberries are already ripening.