My original post seems to have disappeared, fortunately I still have the photos from this hike up to Snow Lake in the Alpine Lakes Wilderness, starting from Alpental at Snoqualmie Pass. We hike up to the lake and around to the outlet, before returning. Overall our hike was about 7.5 miles round trip with 1,800 ft of overall gain. We saw a few waterfalls along the way.
Hoar frost covered part of the trail.
Another partially frozen waterfall
The nearby peaks going up the switchbacks were covered in clouds.
Lots of large icicles along the switchbacks and some frosty trees
Portions of the trail were very frozen, we wore our microspikes.
View of Snow Lake along the switchbacks going down to the lake
Part of the trail was snow covered boulders crossing this stream.
Views looking across Snow Lake as we continued along the trail
Very frozen trail heading down to the log bridge across the outlet
View next to the log bridge over the outlet, we decided to turn around here today.
icicles hanging off a log over the lake
(zoom)
icicles hanging from tree branches at the edge of the lake (zoom)
some snowy peaks north of Snow Lake seen from the trail
View as seen from the snow covered boulder crossing as we returned
We took the side trail down to the lake shore.
There were some icicles hanging from large rocks at the edge of the lake.
Ice covering the edge of the lake
Swirl patterns in the ice over the creek
View from the boulders above the lake back up at the pass. We had our lunch break near here.
There were some obnoxious gray jays harassing us as we ate our lunch. Unfortunately, the cute pica was too fast for me to get a photo as it ran around the boulders near here.
Returning down the switchbacks,
the nearby peaks were cloud covered in a different way as seen on our way back.
I drove up to the Narada Falls Parking Area to snowshoe to Reflection Lakes and back. I followed the trail up to the Stevens Canyon Road and went via Inspiration Point as the avalanche risk was low today. I returned via the Low Lakes Trail. Overall my hike was 3.7 miles with 550 ft of gain. I didn't see any other people on my way to the lakes, and saw 14 snowshoers on my way back. Pretty quiet for a holiday weekend. View of the Paradise River near the parking area on the way to the trailhead.
There was some new snow on the trail from last night. The route from Narada Falls area up to the Stevens Canyon Road was well packed, so I carried my snowshoes along here.
View along the Paradise River next to the trail.
Up on the Stevens Canyon Road, I was post holing, so I stopped an put on my snowshoes. Some columnar rocks and snowy bushes along the road.
I had a nice view of Mt Rainier along this section before the clouds rolled in.
Looking down the closed Stevens Canyon Road towards some of the Tatoosh Peaks. Amazed that I had the first half of this hike to myself.
Before reaching Inspiration Point, I turned around and watched the clouds come in and hide Mt Rainier from view.
view of Lane, Chutla and Eagle Peaks from Inspiration Point
zoom of Lane Peak
zoom of Chutla and Eagle Peak
Rocky cliffs along the side of the road
The sun rising behind Castle Peak and Pinnacle Peak
The part of the lake by the outflow was not frozen and I was able to get a reflection of some trees in the water.
I walked along the shore of Reflection Lake for a ways.
Mt Rainier remained hidden behind the clouds while I was at the lake.
Enjoyed the fresh snow covering the trees and ground.
Saw a small peak of Mt Rainier across the lake as I headed back.
By the time I was on the other side of the Lower Lakes Trail, the clouds had passed and I saw some nice views of Mt Rainier.
View of the Paradise River from the bridge above Ruby Falls
side view of Ruby Falls
Ruby Falls
