Reviewed By: Chris on Wednesday, August 18, 2010 @ 01:30:56 PM

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I love this hike, the first part is hard, about a half mile of steady incline, then it takes a turn and you have switchbacks most the rest of the way, alot easier so don't give up too soon. Parts of the trail are tight and overgrown, but others are wide open. For all the complaining on here, I don't understand it, if you don't like to hike or be out in nature then don't do it, the lake is beautiful, I actually proposed to my wife up here. Sure there are bugs, but it is the outdoors in Washington, what do you expect!

Unfinished Hike

Reviewed By: Anonymous on Saturday, August 14, 2010 @ 02:26:39 PM

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I didn't finish the hike due to an asthma attack but I felt I needed to inform other hikers of the flies.... apparently DEET doesn't work on them. I'm not sure if they're flesh eating or what, but they were very persistant in chasing me and my hiking buddy.

Overgrown

Reviewed By: Charlie and Tara on Monday, July 5, 2010 @ 10:08:27 AM

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Review: Starts off pretty good but about halfway into it you get into some very overgrown trail with devil's club and the sort. Once you get through the overgrown part the trail continues with downed trees.( I brought my hatchet to help clean up some of them) Once you get to the lake it was just beautiful. We went July 3 and 4 and nobody was there difficult to backpack but the price you pay to get away from everyone else.

yuck

Reviewed By: Anonymous on Sunday, July 15, 2007 @ 04:57:15 PM

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Definitely not worth the effort.  The trail was reallly overgrown, there was no decent wood around to burn nearby and the bugs were horrible!!  We couldn't even open our eyes to enjoy what we were seeing because bugs would fly into them and stick in our eyelashes.  Bug spray only seemed to attract them more.  Unless you want to sit in your tent all day, I recommend finding another hike.  I'm not one to complain about hikes, but there are definitely way more beautiful hikes in WA. 

great day hike, but bring poles & bug spray

Reviewed By: Anonymous on Thursday, July 5, 2007 @ 11:00:31 AM

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We did this hike on June 24 and saw a few other hikers coming down from an over-night, including a boy scout troop who said the toilet at the top was stinky and nasty (we didn't check it out).  I enjoyed this hike because it offered a nice canopy of trees and verdant foliage for the first half, a lovely boardwalked meadow, and then another jaunt in old growth before getting to the cool alpine lake.  There was just a spot of snow right before the lake and it posed no problem whatsoever.  Two pieces of advice:  (1) bring trekking poles --there is a fairly long stretch where the trail is made up of rocks which are covered by encroaching foliage (including some devil's club), and if it rains, as it did for us, it can be difficult to navigate the slippery rocks without poles to help balance on and (2) bring bug spray -- there were a lot of mosquitos at the lake, but it was otherwise a pleasant lake and worth the trip up.

May 5th 2007: Be ready for snow

Reviewed By: Anonymous on Saturday, May 5, 2007 @ 07:23:44 PM

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It's definitely not a year round hike - it had a lot of snow in May and we couldn't continue beyond a point. So my rating is based on whatever we hiked - we didn't reach the lake.

The trail was not very well maintained (and I like it that way!) and some places it's easy to lose the trail, specially with quite a few fallen trees. The gravel road is not great for cars - it's more than a 10 mile stretch.

bring a machete

Reviewed By: Albert on Thursday, July 20, 2006 @ 09:46:46 AM

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Review: I went on Sunday July 2, 2006. The begining part of the trail was slightly overgrown. I had to use my trekking poles to push away raspberry bushes. They should be good eats in a few weeks. It took me about 2 hours to get to the lake. I met a couple heading out. They had camped at the lake. The lake is a gorgeous alpine lake. Several other groups had also camped there. One group of young kids had hauled in chairs, inflatable raft, and a boombox. Campsites were nice and I didn't notice any bug problems. Ate lunch, dipped my feet in the lake, took some pictures, and headed back down. The hike out took longer than expected, about 1.5 hours. That's probably because my hip joint (snowboarding injury) was bothering me, even with trekking poles. My recommendation is to bring a swimsuit.

Not a Year-Round Hike

Reviewed By: Michele and Alan on Sunday, November 20, 2005 @ 07:21:46 PM

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Review: I did not want to give this hike a rating since we were unable to make it all the way up, but looks like I can't post without doing so.   This is definitely NOT a year-round hike.  As you go higher, the snow is very deep (at least 2-3feet, and it seemed that a lot of melting had already occured).  I also cannot say that this would be a good snowshoeing trail either, because 1)  there are a lot of narrow, rocky portions of the trail 2)  we completely lost the trail shortly after the wooden walkways over the meadow area.  We did some wandering to see if we could locate something that resembled a trail, but couldn't, and we turned around.  Additionally, the wooden walkway areas are very dangerous with snow on them because they are not well-maintained (huge holes between boards for you to fall into when your step gives way in the snow).  Sometimes just being able to identify the walkways were difficult... making you step into the ice-cold runoff.  Bottom line is, it's not a year-round hike.
As for the hike up, it is somewhat steep in the very beginning, but the rest is a steady mild incline.  I would definately say you should be in good (not excellent) shape to enjoy it.  It is not especially scenic.  I suspect the ratings given are based on the lake.

Friday hike

Reviewed By: Anonymous on Monday, October 10, 2005 @ 10:49:13 AM

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It is a nice hike to take for the day. I also snapped a few photos that I like. It's Oct. so the bugs were no problem at all. It rained a lot so all the wood were soaked for a campfire, I brought a few twigs so it wasn't that big of a problem to start a fire at the convenient campfires around the lake. The lake is small, but I thought the trail to the top was worth it. I have seen longer trails for a smaller lake. A couple places the brush has overgrown the trail, but nothing worth worrying about. You never lose sight of the trail. Make sure and bring a second pair of socks, parts of the trail require walking along a small stream. Hit the trail early to avoid walking back in the dark. The bathrooms are not all that messy, I seen worse at the local pubs in Seattle. Make sure and bring your own tp.

Great hike for Intermediate level

Reviewed By: sheila_wagner on Wednesday, August 31, 2005 @ 12:20:13 PM

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Review: Juan and I went there on the 21st Aug 05, and being as unfit as we were, we took our time and paced slowly as we progressed up. We took 3.5 hours in our ascent with lots of time in between to admire the views and take lots of pics. When we reached our destination, we knew our sweat was truly worth it. The first mile up is a gradual slow ascent through the woods, along a dry streambed, and several switchbacks crossing small streams. The 2nd mile is more treacherous, with a very narrow walking trail on rocky ground, engulfed by shrubs on both sides, with one side sloping steeper downhill. The 3rd - 4th miles are easy gradual climbs up into the woods, and goes through meadows. The terrain changes as you go up, with its own smells and colours. Mushrooms, Spider webs, and blueberries are plentiful.  Truly invigorating. Don't forget the bug spray. We didn't meet many people, only 4 other parties on the way up and down. I believe the distance to the trailhead makes it less appealing to large crowds of people.

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Reviewed By: Gregory Muchin on Sunday, July 31, 2005 @ 03:57:04 PM

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Review: Positives: Beautiful lake and close to Seattle. Negatives: Lots of bugs, lots, bring bug spray, it isn't until the night when they go away and you can relax. Also the toilet is way nasty, needs to be cleaned, 99% of port-a-potty's are cleaner than this.

A great short overnight hike

Reviewed By: Barry on Thursday, July 7, 2005 @ 04:46:03 PM

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Review: We were short on time when we did this hike (only had 2 days off), and it was perfect. For two slightly out of shape hikers, this was a great trail to work up a sweat. It was a little overgrown in spots, but no big deal. The lake was absolutley beautiful and very quiet. The camp sites are spaced well apart and come with a fire pit, but there wasn't much to burn. The outhouse was just put in 2 weeks ago, so it is still somewhat clean. We ran into a DNR team on the way out who is working the area. They were helpful and very friendly. Work on the trail should be done in the next few weeks. They are also especially interested in input from users regarding the area and the site. They are aware of the outhouse concerns as well as the fire rings, and may remove the rings later on. The only downside to the trail was the bugs at the camp (bug spray didn't help much - maybe that bug incense stuff??) and that there are no trails after reaching the campground. Once you're at the camp there isn't really any exploring to do as the brush is too thick off the trail.

June 17, 2005

Reviewed By: Sam on Saturday, June 18, 2005 @ 11:29:03 PM

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Review: The trail is unmaintained with lots of overgrown bushes. Watch out of the thorns. The lake was very small and not impressive. The flies were everywhere that it was unbearable to be outside the tent. If you plan on going on this trip in the near future, bringing water proof clothing, a good book and bug spray.