Melakwa Lake, Denny Creek — Saturday, Jun. 6, 1998

Snoqualmie Region > Snoqualmie Pass

Call this an unanticipated experiment in hiking through snowfields in sandals. A friend and I decided to head out in the beautiful weather on Sunday morning to the Denny Creek trail--easy I90 access, plenty of people. The trail looks like it has gotten a fair bit of maintenance work to go along with its heavy usage. At 1 mile (the 2nd crossing of the creek) you have to wade through a raging cataract--it swept me off my feet and I dunked my friend's boots in the water, leading to a trade-off in socks (since we had both forgotten extras) and me hiking in my sandals! After relaxing and watching children and dogs get carried across the creek, we hiked as high as we could--snow cover begins before the third creek crossing, but is heavily used and easy to follow until near the pass. If you know where the trail is supposed to be, you could probably keep going--we did not and turned around, returning in the thunderstorm. All in all a beautiful hike with a touch of adventure close to home.