Disappointed by the weekend’s weather and the need to cancel my Ruth/Icy Peak Traverse, I set my sights on something fun and relatively easy that I had never done before.  I gave Derek a call to see if he would be interested in a hike to Snow Lake on Monday after work.  

A popular trail nearby the bustling Seattle metropolis, the hike sees 100’s of visitors on sunny summer weekends.  We were hoping that the crowds would be thinned on this weekday as Derek and I left Seattle at 4:00 PM.  We drove west on I-90 arriving at the trailhead at 5:00 PM.  Quickly pulling our gear together we were on the trail by 5:15.

The Snow Lake Trail slowly gains altitude as it works it’s way up the valley towards Source Lake.  Above the trail, the familiar peaks of Snoqualmie, The Tooth and Chair Peak begin to appear.  

We quickly reached the intersection where the trail splits to either Source Lake or Snow Lake, the latter following a series of switchbacks as the trail gains the ridge and then drops down to Snow Lake.  

By 6:00 PM we were standing on top of the ridge, dodging mosquitoes, as we took in our first sights of Snow Lake.  We were surprised to see that so much of the lake had not yet melted out.  Still half-frozen, the lake reflected the unusually high snowfall the Cascades has received this past winter.  After snapping some photos, we were again on our way.

We reached Snow Lake at about 6:15 PM.  We were pleasantly surprised to find that we were sharing the lake with only one other party.  Although the sun wasn’t positioned well for good landscape photography (as everything was backlit), Derek and I found some scenery worth photographing.  We took our time to take in the sights as the sun drifted over the ridge and the light began to fade.

Realizing that night would soon be upon us we started our hike back to the Alpental parking lot.  Good conversation flowed as the last rays of light hit the peaks of Snoqualmie Mountain and the Tooth.  We quickly descended and reached the cars before dark.  Another fine weekday hike with Derek!