Rachel Lake — Monday, Aug. 21, 2006

Snoqualmie Region > Snoqualmie Pass

Rachel Lake was great! Our family of 4, including our 11 and 13 yr. old sons, got a late start (11:00 am) for our hike but made it up to Rachel Lake by 1:30 pm. First half of hike was mellow but the second half was tough with rocks, tree roots and a steep grade. We saw very few people on the trail and no one at Rachel Lake. Although we weren't spending the night, we explored all the available campsites and thought the best one was far right, almost right on the lake. The boys, a bit grouchy the last 30 minutes up to the lake, really enjoyed exploring the whole area and throwing rocks in the lake. Best part of the hike was virtually no bugs! We've done this hike before and last time went up to the ridge which was beautiful. Today we were happy to have lunch at the lake and just enjoy the scenery -- this also gave the boys time to enjoy the waterfalls on the way back to the car. This one goes in our book as a tough but wonderful hike. We're thinking of returning there for an overnight hike some weekend in September.