Snoqualmie Mountain, Snow Lake — Thursday, Oct. 5, 2023

Snoqualmie Mountain is a tough one to hike. The climb is relentless from get-go all the way to the top. It ascends 3000 plus feet in less than 2 miles in distance. That is steeper than the Mailbox old trail. I started from Alpental parking lot at 9:25 and summit at 11:40. The views were rewarding.

Above tree line, the trail has all sizes of loose boulders. I highly recommend helmet for added safety from downhill rolling rocks. I lucked out because there were no one above me and the next summitter would be some 40 minutes behind. I knew trail runners run this trail for training but I did not see any running down today.

I would say there are three peaks for this mountain, south the first one to summit, flat top, the NW peak where you can view Snow Lake, and the rocky east that most hikers should avoid. There is a well-defined boot path to the NW peak, but I would stay away from cliff side.  I did not try to summit the East, just inched up a little bit to take a quick peek before backing down. Later, I traversed its south face to the east because I wanted firstly, to get a closer look at nearby peaks(see above GPS route), and secondly, to pursue an extracurricular and perilous detour to Snow Lake, though I do not recommend doing so.

Overall I think this is a better trail than the infamous Mailbox Old Trail, fewer people but steeper climbing. If you think the milage is a little low, just add it up by topping Guye Peak on the way back.