My son and I did an overnight camping trip up to Snoqualmie Lake. I've done this route twice before as a trail-running day trip and figured it would be perfect for my son's first backcountry backpacking adventure. We started on Thursday, July 21 at about 11 a.m. First 5+ miles were easy peasy and the miles ticked by as we marveled at the perfect weather, the gurgling of the nearby Taylor River, and occasional glacial erratic or mossy grove. I did this route a few weeks ago as a trailrunning scouting trip, and I was surprised at how much less water there was on the trail. Don't get me wrong -- there were still plenty of streams to refill bottles, cool heated hands, and soak sweaty caps. But several major creeks are now completely dry, and Otter Falls, while still impressive, seemed less than half its previous strength.
We attained the lake in good time and in good spirits. There seem to be four main campsites in the next quarter mile or so -- one on the left just as you catch sight of the lake; one on the lake shore to the right just a short ways beyond; one in a decent clearing on the left just after that; and another on the right another 100-200 yards later beneath a grove of trees. The first two sites were occupied on this Thursday evening so we picked the one in the small clearing, seeing how it would provide an unobstructed view of the night sky and also had a proper metal-enclosed fire ring. We set up camp, then heading down to the lake. The main access seems to be near the first campsite mentioned above -- look for a short line of rocks along the right edge of the trail that marks a short route down to where the lake starts to drain out. There's a small, rectangular quay filled with rocks that provides a serviceable point for shedding your shoes and dipping those tired feet in the cool (but not freezing) lake water.
We then took a short hike on up towards Deer Lake, stopping short of the lake and returning to camp to attend to our grumbling tummies. At this point, the chief drawback of this area became apparent as the bugs descended on us in droves, driving my son into intermittent fits of arm-waving, bellowing insanity. Liberal applications of bug juice somewhat alleviated, but did not eliminate, the insectoid threat. The secondary drawback was that we were only able to collect a bare minimum of serviceable firewood (most of it quite a ways towards Deer Lake) and what we did collect turned out to be rather unsuitable, producing substantially more smoke than fire and requiring constant poking, blowing, and adjusting to provide even the most meagre of heat and warmth. After spying the first few celestial twinkles emerging from the gloaming, we cashed it in.
We awoke to a heavy gray mist blanketing the area. My initial elation at hoping this would suppress the local bug populace was immediately shattered upon unzipping my tent as a massive squadron of mosquitos buzzbombed my exposed face, even landing a few good bites in before my addled morning brain was able to react. The bugs continued to be a terrible nuisance for the couple hours it took us to make coffee and breakfast, clean up, and then break camp and pack for the hike out. Once we started moving, however, we were bug free and our spirits improved immensely. On the way down, we passed at least three groups of campers coming up, so it appeared that the main sites we scouted would all be taken.
Pros: Great, accessible trail. Moderate distance and elevation. Great lake views. Plenty of water. Nice campsites. No evidence curious/hungry critters invading our camp or attempting to get into our food (tied a bear bag to a tree a short ways away).
Cons: Heavy bugs. Uncertain toilet areas -- we weren't sure where to "go" and stumbled across a couple different sites that had clearly been used as latrines. Not as much lake access as we thought. Not a ton to do once you're there. Lack of good firewood.
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