Melakwa Lake — Friday, Nov. 17, 2000

Snoqualmie Region > Snoqualmie Pass

Three words - VERY, VERY ICY! Beautiful, brisk, sunny November Saturday. The ice starts not too long after the trailhead. You could walk the outside edges of the trail in some parts to avoid some of the ice, but not always. Plus, on our way back, we noticed the trail had widened quite a bit from others doing the same thing, and the outer parts were starting to ice up a little, too. 4.5 miles to the lake. The two big waterfalls along the trail are mostly frozen - looks kinda neat! The lake is freezing over nicely for winter. Everything's freezing! As you got closer to the lake, the snow got deeper and the scenery became more like a beautiful winter wonderland. Encountered several others on our way back. It seemed to me they got a late start, so I sure hope they got back before dark. I sure wouldn't want to be dealing with the ice in the dark! Didn't need snowshoes, but I'm thinking cramp-ons might not have been a bad idea!