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Trip Report

Source Lake - Winter Route, Chair Peak — Saturday, Jan. 14, 2017

Snoqualmie Region > Snoqualmie Pass

Trip Report By

100

Type of Hike

Day hike

Trail Conditions

Trail in good condition

Road

Road suitable for all vehicles

Bugs

No bugs

Snow

Avalanche danger

Trails Hiked

Above Source Lake
Arrived at the parking lot around 9:30 am and it was almost full. We were lucky to find a spot without much effort. Lots of skiers come here on weekend and be prepared to come early or might have to park a little bit far away from the trail head. I-90 was cmpletely fine. My ford focus had some issue around 70-80 mph (perhaps due to strong wind) and after slowing down to 65 mph, it was ok. There was some slushy snow near te parking lot but everyone drives carefully and never found any issue. We just followed the trail and the snow was well packed. We even saw someone with spikes on the trail. No issue either. Snowshoe can help when one wants to go to fluffier part, like we did by climbing Chair Peak. We arrived at the source like around noon and had some snacks. Then we tried to go over the Chair Peak to take a look at Snow Lake but didn't succeed. We headed back around 1:00 pm. By mistake, we took a lower trail, which is much fluffier and made us really slow. Finally we tried to get back to snow lake trail, which took us quite some efforts. If you are not prepared, might want t stay on snow/source lake trail because it is much easier. We got back to the parking lot around 3:00pm. Really some work for the body. Might want to come back for snow lake later.
Snow Lake Trail with Chair Peak in the clouds
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Comments

Glad to hear you didn't get caught in an avalanche and make the search and rescue teams extract your body! This is an extreme avalanche area and the site of many body removals (usually in mid-summer when the snow melts). Please use good judgement and avoid extreme avalanche areas.

Posted by:


Searching for DL on Jan 15, 2017 09:02 AM

Don't make yourself sound like the only one knowing about the danger. There were dozens of people on the trail and enjoy the great weather and scene. I think most of them kept this well in mind.

Posted by:


demonstrate on Jan 15, 2017 10:20 AM

Just a quick reminder about the "gambler's fallacy" & that other people present doesn't make an area safe. I did notice you marked the report as "avalanche danger" which is definitely true. Happy hiking!

Posted by:


Suhleenah on Jan 19, 2017 05:11 PM