Bench and Snow Lakes

In the afternoon we hiked to Bench and Snow Lakes, a 2.2 mile round trip hike with about 700 ft of elevation gain.

The trail goes up and down, through the woods and open fields. Lots of berries on bushes. Unicorn Peak in the distance.

Looking back at Mt Rainier behind us to the north.













Overlooking the north end of Bench Lake below.

A short side trail leads down to the shore of Bench Lake. Beautiful reflection of Mt Rainier today.

The trail continues to wander up and down until it nears Snow Lake.

We decided to go to the campsite on the north end of Snow Lake, a log crossing over the outlet to Snow Lake.

















Glimpse of Snow Lake as we head to the campsite.













Pano along the northeast shore of Snow Lake, Unicorn Peak on the left:

It was so hot, I decided to cool off in Snow Lake, the water is very cold, but it felt good!

















Some of the foliage is turning to fall colors.

Some glimpses of Mt Rainier along the trail as we make our way back to the trailhead.

This lone gentian was the only wildflower in bloom I saw along this trail today: