Grace Lakes, Frosty - Wildhorse Creek — Saturday, Jul. 29, 2006

Central Cascades > Stevens Pass - West

With the dismal weather forecast, we decided to head East for the weekend to the Chiwakum Mountains. Saturday was totally clear and about 70 degrees until early evening. We started on the White Pine Creek trail for the first 2.5 miles, then connected with the Whitehorse Creek trail. Both of these could use some serious brushing out! In some areas the foliage was above our heads, and it was difficult to see where we were putting our feet. But in general the trails are in good shape,with plenty of flowing water, and creek crossings are easy. The Lake Grace Trail begins about 8.25 miles from the trailhead, which is about 1 miles before reaching Frosty Pass. The distance seemed a lot longer to us, maybe because of the slow progress through the brushy areas. Anyway, we were expecting the Grace Lake trail to be difficult to spot, but it is actually well signed. Though unmaintained, the trail is easy to follow except for a few sketchy areas. More boots are needed here. Cairns lead the way across a grassy meadow. Grace Lake is about 1000ft of gain in 1.5 miles above the main trail. There are actually two lakes and a tarn, and two higher lakes(which we did not see). Although a long hike in, the rewards were well worth the effort! Nestled on the NW side of Snowgrass Mt., the Lakes are beautiful, including a spectacular 700ft waterfall tumbling from the upper lakes, and no one else was around. Bugs were minimal.