I arrived at the trailhead around 7:45 a.m. There were about 8 cars parked.
WTA rates this hike as hard, but on a scale of 1 to Gothic Basin, I’d give it a 7. There’s definitely some steep parts with rooty or rocky bits to navigate, but I found it to be a lovely trail. AND, if you’re an alpine lake lover…this trail gives you two for the price of one! You start in old growth forest and there were lots of places along the way to fill up with water in addition to the rushing sounds of Surprise Creek.
At mile three things get steep, but the chatty chirps of pikas nearby make you forget a bit about the incline. I had about 8 backpackers pass me hiking out as I made my way up. And two gentlemen passed me. I stopped and had lunch at Surprise Lake in the Day Use area where it was cloudy and I had an elusive pika chatting about. I had a nice view of Spark Plug Mountain.
After lunch headed less than a mile further up the trail to Glacier Lake. Just before the lake I got a lovely view of Surprise Mountain.
From there I climbed down to the shore littered with big granite boulders. Enjoyed some water before heading back. On my way down, as I was passing Surprise Lake again, the sun came out. I only saw one woman hiking up as I was headed down.
The reward of solo hiking today? I had both lakes all to myself!
I got back to the car at 3:30pm and headed to Zeke’s for an Elk burger and a milkshake! Such a good day!
If you want to see more of the trail, I’ve linked my Instagram reel from the day.
Comments