Snow Lake — Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2020

First time hiking Snow Lake. We got there a little after 8am. Lots of cars in the lot but not anywhere near full (it’s a huge lot). We encountered maybe 10 groups going up the trail. Going down, we encountered a lot more. Quite a lot of people not wearing masks - disappointing. Honestly, it was more crowded than I like in a hike, but I knew this was a popular hike.

The stats for this hike are deceptive. I only saw 1,500ft elevation gain over the entire hike. We only got 7.5 after wandering around the lake quite a bit. You reach the highest park of the hike after maybe 2.25 miles and you can access the lake within 3.5 miles or less. The trail is well maintained and easy to follow. It was much less challenging than I expected.

The lake itself is breathtaking. It’s a popular hike for a reason. Since we went earlier, it wasn’t warm enough for us to get in the water, but there were plenty of people already swimming. There were lots of flowers in bloom too. It really is gorgeous up there.

The bugs weren’t bad in the morning, but they were bothersome on the way down. I had on good bug spray but the flies were still persistent. If I hadn’t had on bug spray, the mosquitos would have been an issue too. Also, don’t forget sunscreen - a lot of the trail is out in the open.