Snoqualmie Lake — Friday, May. 26, 2017

What a great way to start off Memorial Day weekend! I decided to get in a solo overnighter to Snoqualmie Lake on Friday before the crowds rolled in over the weekend. 

The road up to Middle Fork Campground is freshly paved and in great shape. I arrived at the trailhead around 12:30 and the campground itself was already filling up. From there, it was just a matter of putting in some miles to get to the lake in time. First 6 miles is a very gradual incline which I did in about 2:30 hours with a stop for late lunch. 

The final 2 miles is where the fun begins. You gain around 1400 feet towards the lake but the obstacle course along the way presents the largest challenge. The first third of the way there are dozens of blow downs, a mixture of climbing over, ducking under, and walking around to pass. Some are pretty difficult with an overnight pack on! The middle third is a combination of more blow downs and stream crossings that require a little problem solving. Poles were extremely helpful here! Didn't prevent me from dunking my left boot in the water at one point. Important to take your time here and really map out your route. The final third is where the snow comes into play. It's not super difficult to cross, but prepare for some post holing and general slippage. This continues all the way until the lake. It's easy to lose the trail the last 2 miles so it's important you have a map on hand.

One you make it the views are worth it! The area around the lake is still blanketed in snow, so if you're planning to overnight you probably want to get there early enough to snag the only open campsite. I was lucky enough to share the site with 3 great guys, but any more than us 4 and it would have been very cramped. Judging by the amount of snow and lack of direct sunlight on the banks, it could be another month before a lot of the sites open. 

The way back down was largely unexciting, but it was obvious Memorial Day weekend had arrived. I passed probably 40 people at various points. Not sure where people were headed, but if all of them were day hiking to Snoqualmie Lake then they're more hardcore than I am!