Kendall Knob

 The Kendall Knob is near Kendall Peak Lakes (basically the same trail). I did not go to the lakes, but did go up and enjoy the beautiful views from Kendall Knob on a gorgeous winter day. The trailhead is at the first SnoPark across I-90 from Hyak on the east side of Snoqualmie Pass. The route up the Knob is on a close forest service road, so is fairly easy to follow. (The route to the lakes are off of the closed road).
Staying on the road (not taking any shortcuts), this was a 7.8 mile round trip with 1,700 ft of gain. The route was well packed down, and icy this morning so I used micro spikes for the entire hike.
The moon was setting and the sun beginning to rise as I started out. At the beginning of the trail a bridge crosses over this creek (looking east).




I was still in the trees while the sky was peak, so gorgeous even though I had not yet reached a viewpoint.










Loved the many icicles hanging off of this tree near some running water

As the road climbs up the side of the mountain, there are some open areas with views. I could see that Snoqualmie West was covered in fog as I hiked under beautiful blue skies.










Further up, begin to see the Kendall Peaks













Closer look at the Kendall Peaks, the lakes are in the forest below the peaks.

The road takes a sharp turn towards the east,

 and ends at a nice clearing on Kendall Knob!













Pano looking east to southeast: Rampart Ridge, Keechelus Lake, and Mt Rainier peeking over some south Cascade mountains

 As I was returning down the road, I noticed another view of Mt Rainier peeking over the Cascades, that I had missed on the way up.

 Back near the trailhead, this time looking west at the bridge.