Alaska Lake

I-90 Snoqualmie Pass, Exit 54
14 Miles (round trip)
1600 ft

October 10, 2006

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Hoping to catch a hike on the last sunny day of the summer, I headed up to the top of Snoqualmie Pass. I chose Alaska Lake because it appeared isolated and required a hefty climb at the end. Plus my map (Green Trails #207) labeled the trail as "difficult to follow".  Steep and overgrown, the perfect recipe to hike in solitude.

Location

Hiking to Alaska Lake requires hiking along Gold Creek which is well signed. Heading eastbound on I-90 take Exit 54.  This is the last Snoqualmie Pass exit and is marked as Hyak / Gold Creek.  Turn left and head under the freeway. Then take a right on the paved road (just past the westbound exit ramp). Follow this across the creek and hang a left (again well marked). Despite what your map might imply, the road to the trailhead is gated off and you have to hang another left into the Gold Creek Pond parking lot. I think this is some kind of snow-park in the winter, as there are dozens of parking spots. The actual trailhead is about two miles down a private gravel road. (Even if you managed to sneak past the gate, there is no parking at the trailhead). A Northwest Forest Pass is required.

The Hike

As I said, I was hoping to take advantage of the last sunny day in Seattle.  When I actually arrived at the pass, the temperature was 28 degrees.  Good thing I happened to have a few extra layers of clothing in the trunk.  Finding the road to the trailhead gated off kind of bummed me out.  That meant an extra two miles of "commuting on foot" to the trail.

A bunch of people have built houses about halfway down the road. Most look like they were constructed within the last year. At the time I suspected the road had been recently closed after a timber company sold out to developers, but friends confirmed the road has been closed for some time.

So I found myself freezing underneath three layers of clothing, waiting to be accosted by an unchained psycho dog, and wondering if I had made a mistake.  But I eventually reached the trail, and once under the tree canopy, the dampness of the morning lifted.

The trail follows Gold Creek for four miles while gaining only 300 ft. At the start of October I found the creek is very tame, but I suspect it is quite active during snow melt.   Parts of the trail were muddy and wet even at this time of year, so I am sure you need to be ready for wet feet during the high-water season.

Despite reviews I had read, the trail branching off to Alaska Lake was easy to locate.  The path was narrower, but my map and altimeter were unnecessary. [The main trail goes up to Joe Lake, 1.7 miles]. The trail is a little dicey but no worse than any other thousand-feet per-mile ascent.  Eventually the trail climbs a ridge overlooking a creek running down from the lake. Maybe half way up I reached a point where the sun was shining directly on the path.  At that point I could return to normal hiking attire.

As I thought about writing this trip report, I made a mental note to include something about the trail being easy to follow. Then I scrambled up some rocks and ran into a wall of bushes. The brush was of a variety that grows pretty quick, so I thought the trail might in fact be inaccessible.  I actually started to turn back when I noticed an additional cairn in the rocks.
[A cairn is a clearly man-made stack of rocks marking trails, usually in rock fields]. I learned an important lesson: One should not leave a cairn before locating the next one.  In this case, the path continued to the left of the rocks (towards the creek). I was back on track to the summit.

Alaska Lake is a classic alpine lake.  It is almost entirely surrounded by steep hillsides, except for one flat portion where the water drains downhill.  The water is crystal clear and you can see the bottom at least four meters down.  In fact I saw a fish swimming around underneath the water.  To my surprise there were several camping locations that looked like they had been used in the last couple of weeks.  [Charcoal in the fire pits looked fresh].

I had a small lunch (Power Bar and Gatorade) and enjoyed the view. The Pacific Coast Trail runs along the top of the hills surrounding the lake, but it runs 1000 feet higher so I felt effectively alone. The trip down was uneventful.  Having to walk along the gravel road for such a long time was a bit of a drag.  Mentally the hike is over but you are still a half an hour from your car. The temperature back in the lot was 68 degrees.  Quite a swing since my arrival.

I went on a Tuesday morning.  While there were two cars in the lot, they were covered in frost (clearly been there all night), and I never saw anyone on the trail. Alaska Lake met all my desires.