Hope and Mig Lakes — Sunday, Nov. 20, 2016

Central Cascades > Stevens Pass - West

Not knowing what to expect as the last winter trail report was written several years ago we were pleasantly surprised to see that the trail was easy to follow and well maintained. The trail immediately starts climbing but at a gentle grade. The trail was intermittently snow covered and quite wet. Recommend appropriate footwear. I'm thankful I wore my mountaineering boots as my feet stayed dry and quite warm. Traction devices (i.e. microspikes, yaktrax or snowshoes) not needed until reaching the lake where the PCT intersects the trail. It appeared that the northbound PCT trail had been traveled quite a bit recently. Might be a result of the search for the missing PCT hiker, Sherpa, as it's an easy entry point to the PCT. We, however, went southbound towards Trap Lake. Due to the amount of snow we didn't reach Trap Lake as we ran out of daylight. However, those looking for a winter wonderland day hike will enjoy Hope Lake as it's a nice 3 mile round trip option.