Surprise Lake

Today we hiked to Surprise Lake.  It was a great trail and unfortunately my pictures do not do it justice.  The Surprise Lake trail is off of Hwy 2, about an hour and a half from Seattle.  It is approximately 9 to 10 miles round trip with an elevation gain of 2700 feet.  From the lake you can continue on to Glacier Lake or you can connect to the PCT.  One of the most amazing things about this trail was that there was hardly anyone on it.  We only saw 9 groups on the way up, I had to count because for the first hour we didn't see anyone.  I was amazed.  Starting at 10:30am on a Saturday I thought it would be much more crowded.  Many of the groups we did see were backpacking, there is great camping at the lakes but no fires allowed unfortunately.

The trail starts out fairly easy, not too much of a slope and it is very well maintained.  A lot of nice staircases, bridges over water crossings, and some boardwalks early on. 

At around 1.3 miles you will cross Surprise Creek.  It is a easy trek over a downed tree.  The water in the creek is amazingly clear. 

After this point there are a couple of places where the trail is overgrown but it doesn't last long and up ahead are some great views.

 

One of the reasons this trail is so awesome is there are a lot of breaks in the trees to catch glimpses of the beautiful peaks you are passing.  At around 3 miles the trail starts to climb more steeply until just before the lake.  However, the steepness of this trail is probably easier than Mount Si, so nothing terrible.

At around 4.7 miles you will reach the lake.  There is a lot of wilderness restoration going on around the beginning of the lake and areas are roped off.  However, this won't spoil your chances of enjoying the gorgeous lake. 

My one good lake shot came out fuzzy.  I am unfortunately a lazy camera operator when I am out hiking. 

We hiked on down the trail past the other groups that were already lunching on the rocks until we found a quiet area to eat. 

The water was cold but very clear and blue.  I don't think I could have swam in it but it was very inviting.

On the way back we stopped at the outhouse.  I climbed up and to my surprise it was just a latrine, no house.  Better than nothing I guess.  Luckily no one walked up behind or in front of me.  Anyway, from this little wooden perch there was an amazing view.  I had to stop and snap a picture of it.

Surprise Lake Trail
Stevens Pass, Hwy 2
Mount Baker Snoqualmie National Forest

10 miles round trip
Elevation gain: 2700 feet
Passes Needed: Northwest Forest Pass

http://www.wta.org/go-hiking/hikes/surprise-lake-1