Pacific Crest Trail – Snoqualmie Pass to Ridge/Gravel Lakes 9-5-09 Trip Report

Ridge Lake

Hike summary:

• Destination: Ridge Lake
• Mileage: 15 miles roundtrip
• Elevation Gain: 2,500 feet to Katwalk, trail kinda levels out after that
• Camp Elevation: Ridge Lake around 5,400ft
• Hike Time: 4hrs in; 2hrs out
• Weather Conditions: Wind, Rain, Sleet, Snow
• Trip Length: 3 days / 2 nights 9.5.09 – 9.7.09
• Pack Weight: 36lbs

Hike Details:

This weekend Gene and I had the priviledge of  heading into the Alpine Lakes Wilderness. It was very exciting for me as this was the first time I got to experience the area as well as being my first hike on a portion of the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT). I was up at 5 am and put the finishing touches on my pack, and once Gene got there we weighed our packs and evened them out. Buff and Gabe got up to wish me off. We left my house at 6am stopped at McD’s for breakfast and coffee. It was about 9am when we got to the Info Center at the Snoqualmie West Summit exit on I-90. We had to pick up the parking pass, which is required for parking at the trailhead. You can pay per day for $5 or purchase a year pass for $30. It was raining pretty good when we hit the trail head parking lot. I filled out our self-issue permit and we donned our rain gear and pack covers and started hiking at 9:30am.

Gene and I at the trailhead

It was raining pretty hard as we headed into the trees. Thank goodness the trail goes through so much old growth, it was a small reprieve from the onslaught of rain. About 20 minutes or so into the hike a couple of guys passed us on the way up to Kendall Katwalk for a day hike. We also met one other couple coming down who had spent the night at Ridge Lake the previous night. They gave us some info on the sites around the lake and we parted ways. There are several creek crossings and the water was low enough to rock hop across. We crossed a few meadows filled with very fragrant flowers, it was like someone sprayed air freshener over the area, it was a really relaxing smell. One of them were home to a family of pheasants, they watched us closely as we trekked through. The same meadow seemed to be created by a massive avalanche, we could see the aftermath in the lowest field huge trees scattered around like lincoln logs tossed out of a bucket. The Katwalk is about 5.5 miles in and we were absolutely soaked by the time we made it there. I had found a pair of Fox Sidewinder gloves on the trail right before the Katwalk, but they were dry and I figured they were dropped by the guys that had passed us. The Katwalk is a portion of the trail that was blasted into a solid granite ridge by guys hanging from ropes. See picture below.

Gene on the Katwalk on our way out Monday

We caught up to the two guys who had passed us and the glove ended up being one of theirs, the guy was really thankful, (I forgot to pack gloves so I was bumming a little) A large group passed us about that time and let us know that the trail was closed at a certain point and detoured due to a wild-fire. But we weren’t going that far thankfully. I’m thinking the rain put a damper on that fire anyway. The rain had stopped by this time but the clouds were all around us, some high some low, it was really beautiful and kind of sureal.

Just before the Katwalk enjoying the view

One of several peaks peeking through the clouds.

Cool Rock in a rock garden, looked like someone just dropped it there and it cracked to pieces.

We gained about 2400 feet in the hike to the Katwalk, it was not too bad since it was spread out over the long distance. After the Katwalk it levels out for the next 2 miles to Ridge and Gravel Lakes. It took us about 4 hrs to get to Ridge lake, we decided we would hold out on eating lunch until making it to the lakes. We got to Ridge lake around 1:30pm. I feel like we did a good pace and was not too wore out when we stopped. During the hike we had a great time of fellowship talking about family, God, faith and just about everything under the sun… It made the time go seemingly fast.

Looking down at Ridge Lake from PCT

The Alpine Lakes Wilderness is the most beautiful area I think I’ve been in. With the possible exception of Artist Point. We took the first spur trail to the right after Ridge Lake to look for a good spot.

Caution Rant Coming: I just need to note this here and I will let it go, but the first discovery I had at ridge lake which almost destroyed the awesomeness of being remote was someone elses human waste. Yeah, like 50ft up from the lake if that, just a pile with TP around it in some trees. We found several more in stands of trees where one would go to take shelter from the wind and rain. Come-on People! Dig a hole and Bury it! It’s not hard. Don’t leave it behind for others to find! It was absolutely disgusting. It was a LNT nightmare <End Rant>

We went back and forth over a couple of sites but settled on a site just over the rim at the back or s. east side of the lake. It was surrounded pretty much on all sides by some rises and gave us some really good protection from the wind. We decided to set up camp first then eat as we were enjoying a clearing in the sky at the time. We quickly set up the tent and Gene had the idea of putting the tarp over a very large flat rock that served as our lounge and dinner table for the weekend. I never usually bring a tarp as I’ve never really needed one. However knowing the weather was likely to be bad I bought a bigger one for this trip. Probably the smartest thing I could have done. We spent most of our time under the tarp Sunday and Monday.

Our Campsite with tarp A frame shelter in the foreground and REI Quarter dome UL in the background. Check out that ridge line on the tarp, Gene did an awesome job.

Camp went up quickly and we boiled some water for coffee and had Lunch. Lunch was Bagels, Smoked Gouda, Italian Dry Salami and Soup. mmm… it was very good for a couple of cold backpackers that’s for sure. We drank some D&M Hi-Octaine Jeff picked up for me in Ellensburg! (Thanks Jeff!) We got our stuff in the tent and then went and checked out our surroundings and pumped some water. We found out a couple set up on one of the first sites from the main trail on the east side of Ridge Lake. We didn’t see them at all the whole time but could here them talking once in a while. Both the lakes were beautiful even in the bad weather. I imagine it would be very awe inspiring in sunny weather.

Having lunch

Getting our stuff set up in the tent

We walked over to Gravel Lake and took a look at it, and saw a Mountain Goat eating high on the side of the mountain. You can see the little white dot to the right in the furthest meadow. A marmot also came out of the rocks just below us and started calling to another one up the trail. It was very awesome to be just chillin in Gods creation. We commented on how beautiful the earth must have been before the fall.

Gravel Lake

Alaska Lake through the clouds from the PCT

We walked over and were blessed with a clearing for this view of Alaska Lake. Very pretty. About that time we figured it must be close to dinner time. We met a couple of Girls coming in with their dogs. They stopped by our camp and we told them where a couple of good sites were, they took the one behind our site, nice and grassy. They told us they came to fish and that if we hadn’t had dinner they were planning on catching a bunch of fish. I’ve never had, or can’t remember having fresh water fish so I thought that sounded good. Gene and I made coffee and waited up by the lake to see them fishing, Gene was kicking himself for not bringing a line or something. Around 7:20pm we decided we weren’t going to wait any longer and proceeded to cook our dinner, spaghetti with meat sauce, which I thought was very good. The fisher ladies didn’t end up going fishing til after dark, and on their way back to their site let us know their line got all tangled up. So no fish. Gene and I decided to head to bed and read our bibles for a bit and pray. We had a beautiful full moon that night and a decent clearing in the clouds to enjoy it by. But shortly after that the rain and wind picked up and it was to stay that way until around 11am Sunday morning. We pretty much ate breakfast and then I just got back in the tent for some more reading and took a nap. Breakfast both mornings consisted of oatmeal and a blueberry pop-tart. Gene was wanted to put a candle in my pop-tart since it was my B-Day but he just wished me a happy B-Day and prayed for me instead. During our break in the weather at 11am we decided to take our lunch and hike over to the west end of Gravel lake.

View looking west from end of Gravel Lake

Gravel Lake

It was beautiful over there we could look down over a vast valley. Mountain peaks all around. Then we sat near the bank of the lake and began to enjoy our lunch as a slow drizzle came upon us. By the time we finished our lunch it had turned into a full blown deluge. we waited for about 30 minutes or more for a break so we could hoof it back to camp but it never came. I got soaked on the way back to camp. Once there I hung my wet stuff under the tarp to dry and then climbed into the tent to warm up.

Me warming up

It rained hard the rest of the day and evening. Gene had joined me in the tent and we napped a bit then got up and cooked dinner and had hot coca. We just went back to the tent after dinner was cleaned up. We read some more and talked about a lot of stuff. It got really stormy Sunday night we experienced hailed, sleet, rain and cool temps. At about 10pm it got really quiet and Gene said, hey I think it quit raining, we were like, praise the Lord! It did quit raining, it was snowing.

Snow on the tent!

Snowing, looking toward tarp

Wow that seemed nuts. After an hour or so it turned back to rain and the wind and rain pounded the tent all night long! At one point I was just kinda staring at the tent and a huge flash and massive clap of thunder followed imeadiately behind it. Gene woke up and was like, whoa was that a jet? I was a little freaked and was thinking, okay, what did backpacker mag say about staying safe in a lightning storm…, but there was no more. Thank you Lord! It was kinda scary. Monday morning the rain continued and we finally decided it was not going to stop. So we rolled out of the tent around 8:30am. We ate a quick breakfast, broke camp and headed for home.

Good bye Alpine Lakes!

It rained and sleeted and snowed on us for the first 30 minutes or so. We make it back to the parking lot in about two hours. We met lots of people coming in for day hikes to the Katwalk. We stopped in North Bend and had lunch at a Chinese place called Yum-Yum. It was delicious and I would recommend it for sure. We made it home in time for dinner! This was one of the most intense trips I’ve done and look forward to doing it again. I plan on posting some reviews of the gear I took soon so look for those.

S

Gear:

• REI Mars Pack
• REI Quarter Dome UL 2 man tent
• 3 pop can Alcohol Stoves (3 different designs for testing)
• 16oz of fuel (denatured alcohol)
• REI Downtime +20
• Big Agnes Insulated Air Core Mummy Pad
• 8×10 Tarp
• 100ft Nylon rope
• 100ft Parachute cord
• Sigg water bottle
• MSR 2 liter bladder
• MSR Mug Mate
• MSR Sweetwater Pump Filter
• Platypus 4 liter canteen
• REI Ti-Ware long handled spoon
• Leatherman Pulse
• first-aid Kit
• Compass
• Lighter
• Waterproof matches
• Mountain Hardwear Epic Trifecta Jacket (Shell only)
• Mountain Hardwear Chugach 3D Jacket
• Mountain Hardwear micro fleece hat
• REI lightweight MTS Bottoms
• REI Quarter Socks (for sleeping)
• REI Sahara Long sleeve shirt
• REI Safari wide brimed hat
• REI Wicking Tee
• REI Sahara Convertable Pants
• Champion Power Core Long sleeve Top
• Head Wool Socks (spares)