Beautiful day for snowshoeing in the Mt Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest. We took the Snow Lake trail past Source Lake, climbed to the ridgeline saddle (shoulder of Chair Peak) and returned via the Source Lake winter route. Plenty of parking at Alpental when we left at 9:45am.

Our timing was good. Deep snowpack, reasonably stable snow and an excellent weather window. **Please be advised this route travels through avalanche terrain (gear and expertise required)**

Trail was snow covered the entire way. After the Snow Lake (summer trail) junction we put our snowshoes on. The trip above Source Lake to the ridgeline was quite beautiful. As we climbed two skiers cut figure 8's in the chutes below Chair Peak. What a gorgeous day for everyone!

The ridgeline was like a Dr. Seuss Christmas. Huge cinnamon rolls of snow adorned the trees and sparkled in the sunlight. Just total winter goodness. We followed the skin track of 3 skiers who we met at the top. After they descended we stomped out a spot and had lunch. Wonderful solitude, few hikers and easy to social distance.

No issues on the descent. We took the Source Lake route back to the car.

A gorgeous winter hike; not sure I have seen better views anywhere.  Took the winter route from the uppermost parking lot.   Trail is a groomed road for a miles or so.  Took a right at the early fork labeled uphill traffic keep right.  This path comes to a waterfall that appears unpassable but trail climbs up the nearside and beyond it.   Used just spikes to get to source lake.  Put on snowshoes and went up and right and over to the Snow Lake overlook area.   Definitely required snowshoes or ski's w/ skins. View from here, back towards Source Lake Basin, is awesome.   On return, stayed high and followed path that is the return skier path rather than dropping down. 

We started just before 10 am and the parking lot was relatively light.  When we returned 3 hours later, traffic had definitely picked up.  Another advantage to starting off in the morning: the snow pack is more firm and easier to grip with your snowshoes.  Indeed, unless you're going off trail, you may get by with only micro-spikes.  There was a light layer of fluff off trail.

The trail is pretty well defined and not hard to follow.  It weaves in and out of the trees, you may experience 20 degree F swings in temperature!

Sunday was beautiful.  Bring sunscreen and sunglasses.  The rate of elevation is pretty moderate.  We did encounter one ice waterfall staircase just before the turn off to Snow Lake.  Just some caution: it's easier to go up than down.

Beautiful views and faces surrounded us.  We  also passed by a mountaineering training class.

We started the hike from the "Source Lake Trailhead-Alpental Lot 4/Upper lot" as it is called on Google. The trail started off easy, no snowshoes needed. About a mile in, the shoes helped immensely. We did see quite a few skiers and hikers with spikes, both groups seemed to be able to navigate just as well as people with snowshoes. The first half of the hike to Source Lake was easy to moderate, with one short steep climb right after a waterfall. After arriving at the lake, the path to the remainder of the loop trail was a challenge. My group split up, one taking a longer route to the left (when facing the mountain area for skiing), and I chose to climb directly up the mountain to the treeline towards a dead tree (see image with the circled area). This was a difficult climb but cut off at least .5 miles from the hike. Up from the dead tree was a clear path leading into the forest, and by connecting to GPS we were able to confirm this was the remaining portion of the loop. This section was quite easy, with a gentle downhill back to the Alpental parking lot. There was only one stream crossing that was difficult (I included an image) on this portion. I would suggest using extreme caution here. The trail drops you off at the beginning of the Alpental parking lots, so there is a 10 to 15-minute walk back to the upper lot. 

The conditions were perfect for the hike, but please do check the avalanche warning (NW Avalance Center website) before heading out if you plan to do the whole loop. We did see two people that only had tennis shoes, but would definitely not recommend this-they were sinking into the snow quite a lot. I would rate the hike moderately difficult and suggest finding an easier hike if this is your very first experience snowshoeing (or bring someone with experience to lead and assess conditions).

Conditions were perfect for showshoeing today.  No wind, 25-30 degrees and only saw about 10 people.  On weekends it can get pretty busy here.  

The snow conditions are great. The snow is over 10 feet deep so it covers most obstacles.  It is soft and dry but fairly well packed on the trails.  You could use microspikes but I think snowshoes are better in the upper valley and also allows for off trail adventure.

The snow fields in the upper valley were all covered in shimmering ice crystals.  It was a surprisingly beautiful sight.

We ended up doing a lollipop loop. You have to cross the creek twice on narrow snow bridges.  Not difficult but it would be messy if it gave way. 

3.7 mi and 670 ft