Lake Serene — Wednesday, Jan. 2, 2019

Central Cascades > Stevens Pass - West

Trail bare of snow but very wet/muddy at low elevations. Don't wear white Keds, Converse All-Stars, blue jeans, your nice dinner coat, etc, if you want to safe. Ice and slush as you approach the lake. Very slippery in some spots (lots of opportunities to get hurt). Microspikes were very helpful. A couple of blowdowns, one particularly gnarly one that you must climb under/through. Watch your head. Lots of snow at the lake. Lake itself frozen over. Great view as always. We cooked up some ramen and enjoyed having the lake mostly to ourselves. Very few people on the trail on this Wed, though as always we encountered some people with seemingly no gear and at least one party that asked, "is this the trail to the lake?". Seriously don't hike if you don't want to take time to prepare. Otherwise stay safe and have fun!