Surprise and Glacier Lakes — Sunday, Jul. 23, 2023

I think everyone must have read the trip report from last week that I also got excited about, that said there were only two couples at the lake and no bugs, because everyone was at Surprise lake this weekend. Surprise! :)

Left the house at 5am to get to the trail at 6:30. There were already 6 cars parked but they were the Friday backpackers. Trail is in good shape- only a couple downed trees in the way. One you can walk around and one I just took off my pack and crawled under. A little overgrown in places but overall a nice trail.

We stayed on the flat rock on the boulder field on the far side of the lake and it was a fantastic spot to avoid most of the mosquitos, which we were told were horrible if you stayed in the campsites in the trees along the lake. For us there was a nice breeze coming off the lake that kept them at bay.

We didn’t explore Glacier Lake because my partner slipped on the boulders and hurt his knees, so we took it easy. The boulder fields are no joke- proceed with caution if you cross them to the other side of the lake. A bad fall could have some gnarly consequences if you’re not careful. Most campsites are all before this, though, so there is no need to cross the boulders unless you want to or if all campsites are full, as was the case with us.

Great spot to get away for the night! Also a great day hike if you want a good challenge.