I arrived at the Alpental parking lot at 8:15am; it was mostly empty and other cars were mostly skiers. I mistakenly took the trailhead directly across from the parking lot entrance. Don’t do this; I scrambled around in the trees for about 15 minutes before I found the real trail. The actual trailhead is about 100 feet to the left when you exit the parking lot. The views were incredible at this time of day. The sun was just clearing the peaks and we were the only ones on the trail. The first 0.75 mile was easy and well-packed; you probably don’t even need snowshoes for this part. We crossed several avalanche shoots and one small avalanche covering the trail. At 1.25 miles we came to a large open section and there were several large and recent avalanches covering the trail. We crossed the first one with difficulty; it had lots of large, blocky chunks and I was thankful for my poles and snowshoes. We got about halfway across the next one and I called it quits. The snow chunks seemed to be sitting on top of a sheet of ice and I worried that it would become treacherous as the day got warmer. So, we turned back at this point. I was disappointed to not finish the hike, but would rather be safe. And the morning alpenglow made this short trip totally worth it! As we came down (around 9:30) we were met by a parade of groups coming up. So, get there early if you want to enjoy the solitude!

Snowshoed from the Alpental parking lot, following the winter route to source lake, and then continued up hill and to the right towards the Snow Lake overlook area.     Gorgeous views abound.   The route starts at the uppermost parking lot, follows a double wide groomed trail for a bit and then works a bit downhill, crosses the creek, goes a bit uphill, and follows along the other side of the creek to source lake.   Trail well tracked and easy to follow.  From source lake, continued up the steep back hill and went right along the ridge.    Need snowshoes, or skis w/ skins for this part.     On the return, followed the well tracked return path on the west side of source lake that stays high on the western valley wall.   Be sure to keep an eye out for skiiers/boarders returning on this path and step aside to let them pass.

Absolutaly stunning day! 

The avalanche forecast was low to moderate, and my husband wanted to check out Source Lake for some ski touring so we took advantage of the last clear day before the weather moves in tomorrow. 

Got to the upper parking lot about 8.45, there were about 7 cars there. We headed out on the groomed ski run. I carried my snowshoes, and could easily have hikes the whole route in them, but opted for my microspikes on winter mountaineering boots. 

You follow the track (stay right to allow skiers to pass)  go past the water tower on the right. Follow the signs for "uphill travel" for the skiers, until the end of the groomed track. From here there is a well tracked path in the snow. It's packed enough to walk and not sink, but anything off to the side would result in postholing (I am not using snowshoes as my knee is recovering from an injury but if I had to choice, snow shoes would be the best tool to use). You can follow the track winding through the trees, along the creek which is beautiful, frozen and with large pillows of snow. You reach the ascent to cross the open area (the bench) there is a decent but narrow track ascending across the slope (2 skis wide). Then from there follow one of the tracks through the snow to the lake. Easy route finding nd stunning scenery! 

There is avalanche debris on some of the slopes around the lake. Today the conditions were perfect though! 2 hours up and down with about 20 minutes up at the lake. 

Had a spectacularly sunny day for one of my fave snowshoeing routes. Trail was packed but put snowshoes on at the first incline and was happy to have them on the entire trip. Saw plenty of potholes from people who had done the trip without snowshoes. Followed the signs for "uphill route" and it took us on a trail that was new to me. It was fun to have different trails to and from the lake. The "uphill route" stops being sign marked about halfway in but we just followed the packed snow and didn't have any problems. 

Always check NWAC's website in advance and be aware of avalanches on this trail. 

Decided I wanted to see how close I can come to Mount Roosevelt, started the hike around 8 am. I first headed up the summer route of snow lake thinking with the amazing couple days there would be a wonderful trail through the avalanche terrain, I was wrong. A massive avalanche that started from the first switch back to the steep rocks where you get close to the cliff had destroyed the path, I climbed up halfway before deciding to take the long way around due to being by myself incase something happens. The trail to source lake was well defined and headed all the way up the ridge, this is when I put snowshoes on because the snow was pretty soft on top. Snow lake itself is totally frozen and many people have walked on it. I traveled to the other side which took me around 20 minutes. Getting to the other side I decided to turn around due to other activities I had later in the day. There was a good looking trail heading up Gem Lake reason I added it to this trip report. Crossing the lake was extremely windy and cold, even with my whole outfit.