Melakwa Lakes

Drove up to the Denny Creek Trailhead near Snoqualmie Pass for a fall hike to Melakwa Lakes, 8.5 miles round trip with 2,500 ft elevation gain.
The trail crosses a bridge over Denny Creek.















The first part of the trail is in a forest

About a mile up the trail, it crosses Denny Creek at a large rocky area.












The creek was running low, so we had no trouble crossing the water.

The trail goes through several open talus fields. We saw a bit of color in the open areas.

Another 0.25 miles we came to views of Keekwulee Falls and Denny Mountain.

















The trail continues up the valley

As the trail starts climbing more steeply towards Hemlock Pass, we had a view of Snowshoe Falls, there wasn't much water in it.

Reach Hemlock Pass at 3.8 miles from the trailhead. Hemlock Pass is forested. Melakwa Lake is another 0.4 miles with 150 ft descent.

First view of Melakwa Lake

Pano of Melakwa Lake and Bryant Peak

0.2 miles along the rocky left side of Melakwa Lake leads to Upper Melakwa Lake

View of Upper Melakwa Lake and Kaleetan Peak from the creek between the two lakes

more views of Upper Melakwa Lake

Heading back down the creek between the two Melakwa Lakes

more views of Melakwa Lake

cool boulders along Melakwa Lake

There were lots of fallen leaves, the fall foliage is fading.

But the remaining foliage was lit up in the afternoon sun

another view of Keekwulee Falls on the hike down the trail

Winter Hike to Melakwa Lakes Washington

A beautiful hike on the west side of Snoqualmie Pass in the Snoqualmie National Forest. The trailhead is located 3 miles off of I-90. Normally, this trail is not a good winter hike, as you traverse 4 avalanche fields. However, there was very little snow below 6-7,000 ft elevation today, making the avalanche risk very low. The trail was very icy, so we used YakTrax or Microcleats.We hiked 9 miles round trip with about 2400 ft elevation gain.

This trail crosses Denny Creek many times. Sometimes on nice bridges, other times on narrow logs and others, stepping over the rocks. One mile up the trail, you cross at the Denny Creek waterside (a very popular place in the summer) by stepping on the rocks. Here you enter the Alpine Lakes Wilderness.

 The trail begins to climb and you pass Keekwulee Falls (125 ft) a short way up the trail.
























The trail alternates between steep and more gentler climbing sections. About 3 miles into the trail, steep switchbacks take you up to Hemlock Pass (at 4600 ft),on the way up look back at the views to the south, as the trees at the pass block the view.

Hemlock pass takes you to the west side of the ridge line and gently descends 100 ft down to the lakes. About 0.5 miles along the trail dives, the steep trail down to the left goes to Tuscohatchie Lake. Our trail goes slightly to the right.

There are logs across the water flowing out of Lower Melakwa Lake, cross these if you want to continue to Upper Melakwa Lake.

But first take in the views surrounding Lower Melakwa Lake.

The trail to Upper Melakwa Lake, is on the west shore of Lower Melakwa Lake. The two lakes are separated by a small stand of trees.

We found a wonderful sunny spot on the shore of Upper Melakwa Lake. Perfect for enjoying the gorgeous views.

The sun continued to shine, as we hiked back along the trail the way we came. (Here hiking along the shore of Lower Melakwa Lake)

What a wonderful start to a New Year!