Hiking Blue Lake
May 30, 2005
Blue Lake is too good to be true. It's the show-stopper hike that's specially designed for out-of-towners who don't understand why you live in Seattle where it's cloudy 225 days a year on average. The answer: we live with a relatively short drive of paradise, aka the North Cascades. (This argument, I'm sure makes no sense to people who live in the Methow Valley and therefore have both ridiculous amounts of sunshine and ridiculous proximity to first-rate hiking.)
Anyway, the hike to Blue Lake is a cinch. It's 5.5 easy miles roundtrip, the upper half of which is simply gorgeous. We expected crowds at this trail as it leaves from Highway 20, just a few miles west of Washington Pass. But on Memorial Day we lucked out and encountered only one party of three at the lake, and they left shortly after we arrived at about 12:30. (On the way down, however, we encountered a small horde of spic-n-span REI shoppers heading up the trail, burnished pine walking sticks clutched firmly in hand, camel-bak hydration systems readied for performance.)
Nearly in the shadows of Liberty Bell and the Early Winters Spires, lucky walkers make their way through stunted larches, around clean granite outcroppings, and within view of the icy peaks of Rainy Pass, the Cutthroat Peak cluster and several others. The pictures, of course, don't begin to do it justice. I imagine that in the autumn, when the larches turn, the path must be terrific. We'll be back.
(Read our reflection on the North Cascades here.)
The Cutthroat Peak cluster. This is actually the view from the highway--a vista that is replicated several times along the trail.
Jill underneath Liberty Bell
Blue Lake was nearly frozen solid.
The outlet of Blue Lake
Our lunch rock
The remains of an old cabin. I can see the appeal.
The Liberty Bell and Early Winters Spires formations
Looking at our map, we were surprised to discover this peak is unnamed. Ideas, anyone?
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