Still plenty of snow above 3000' but it was above freezing when we went up and looks like it will remain warmer this week. Trees still had lots of snow but were continuing to shed their consolidating snow load. We drove beyond Alpental ski area to the end of the plowed road in a low clearance vehicle. We departed up the groomed road and then put on the snowshoes as we headed off-road over to the stream that flows from Source Lake, which is the headwaters of the Snoqualmie River. We decided to stay on the west side, since we discovered on our last trip it is more steep and difficult traveling above the falls, east of the stream. It took about an hour and a half to reach the lake, which is almost totally covered with snow. The GPS said it was about 1.5 miles to the lake although the guide book I checked said 5 miles round trip. We wandered beyond the lake up near some frozen falls above being cautious of possible avalanching from the steepening slope. Then we headed to the ridge south of Snow Lake and had lunch, before heading down. During lunch I dug a pit to check the layers and found the first hard layer about 8 inches down, with new snow on top. So even though conditions for an avalanche had been reduced on the west side, always proceed cautiously. Also check: http://www.nwac.us/ before going out.

Plenty of snow here! We kept our snowshoes on all day. We set out for Snow Lake but wound up settling for Source Lake after the trail to Snow Lake became a little unclear (lots of skier and snowshoe tracks leading in all directions after the Snow Lake/Source Lake fork, and we didn't see any obvious trail markers). Otherwise the conditions were great-- snow was packed enough to get good traction but powdery enough to appreciate having snowshoes. The route to Source Lake was well defined and easily traversable. Lots of skiers and other snowshoe parties at Source Lake.

Beautiful day for snowshoeing! Plenty of fresh powder, and back home by afternoon.

New Years Day snowshoe with my husband and friends and our dog. Not too busy at 10:15 when we arrived. Parked I. Lower lot but walked up to the further trailhead did not follow Snow Lake Trail. Compacted snow and beautiful until you reach a steep climb, I chicken out about 100' from the top our friends went onto Source Lake, was another 15 min hike for them. Beautiful day very busy with families, skiers, and hikers. Several dogs on trail. Very busy when we arrived back at 130 pm.

When we got to the snow lake parking lot there was snow everywhere. The ground was almost all ice. We got ready with our friends. Our friends were not prepared with their clothes because it was their first time snowshoeing. With our snowshoes on, we went off. At the front of the trail we met these people with two dogs. One of the dogs had some of his toes bleeding. We went on and saw many pretty things like when we walked along the partly frozen river. When we were crossing some rivers the the snow was above the river like it was normal ground, so when we would go over it we would use a hiking poles to poke to see if it was solid. We saw a spruce tree and I threw a snowball at it.(I have a bad history with them.) A little along the trail we found a good spot for lunch. My mom popped a bottle of champagne and we ate. Our friends got cold and headed back. We headed back a little later and then drove home. That was my third time snowshoeing and it was a blast!