Colchuck Lake

Drove to Central Washington to hike up to Colchuck Lake in the Alpine Lake Wilderness near Leavenworth, Washington. We hiked 9 miles round trip with 2,280 ft of gain.`
The trail starts on the Stuart Lake Trailhead and the first 1-1/2 miles are a gentle grade up the forest.

1-1/2 miles up the trail, a wooden bridge crosses Montaineer Creek, there was lots of water in the creek.

After crossing the creek, the trail gains more elevation. We ran into snow on the trail before the trail divides between Colchuck Lake to the left and Stuart Lake to the right.

The second bridge over Mountaineer Creek was very slippery this morning.

Lots of water through here also.

There was one large tree down over the trail that we had to crawl under.

Some nice views where the trail opens up as the trail steepens up hill.

There was another area with several downed trees, but a walk around trail was already made.

First view of Colchuck Lake, Dragontail Peak, Asgaard Pass and Colchuck Peak.

We continued hiking on the trail to the far end of the lake. There was enough snow to make the rocky sections icy, but not enough snow/ice for our microspikes to be useful.

A frozen pond along the trail.

icicles on the boulders

We found a spot near the lake shore to take a lunch break and enjoy the view.

View of the boulder field and the way up Asgaard Pass from the far end of Colchuck Lake.

We found a lovely view spot at one of the campsites along the lake shore on our hike back. View to the south end of the lake,

view to the north end of the lake.













We found a way down to the north end of the lake as the clouds descended.

View of the outlet to Colchuck Lake. Before we left, it began to snow.
Beautiful fall hike, a good reminder that winter comes early in the mountains!