Hiking Louis Lake
May 29, 2005
Louis Lake is not easy to get to from Seattle. From the surprisingly interesting town of Twisp (about 8 miles south of Winthrop), drive 22.5 miles up the surprisingly beautiful Twisp River Road to the trailhead at South Creek Campground. From there it's a 5.3 mile walk to the lake, all of it inside the Lake Chelan-Sawtooth Wilderness. The trail ascends at a modest 500 feet per mile, making for a leisurely outing. It appears to be popular, at least with horses, but on the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend we encountered only one other hiker.
The lake is set in a spectacular location, but your eyes will inevitably be drawn to the lovely cascading waterfall at the far end of the lake. The waterfall emerges from some higher basin, closer in to the jagged peaks and glittering snowfields. As the Mountaineers book says--and we didn't believe--the scramble up there is harder than it should be: Awful bushwhacking, followed by loose boulder-hopping, followed by more bushwhacking.
The prize, however, is worth it. The little lake and outlet stream are cold, crystalline, and delicious-tasting. Set in a lovely garden of granite boulders and larch trees, the high basin is more intimate than Louis Lake. Squint your eyes and you can easily imagine you're in Middle Earth.
(Read our reflection on Louis Lake here.)
Eric poses at the trail's junction on South Creek.
A tiny ladyslipper orchid beside the trail.
Jill pauses along the trail, as we approach Louis Lake.
Louis Lake
Where does that waterfall come from? Should we find out?
Approaching the high basin, the little outlet stream.
I think this is where we will build our hut. I can't see any good reason to leave here.
The unnamed lake in the high basin.
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