Denny Creek to Snow Lake Loop

Or How I lost 3 people

For as long as I have been in Washington I have been drawn to Denny Creek. I still remember the first drive up I-90 heading east passing on the far side the elevated highway and looking up the Denny Creek valley. Ever since, I have loved exploring the Denny Creek area. I first went up with Sofi as far as the "slide" area at the first bridge. Jan 2006 I went up Denny Creek past Keekwulee Falls to the upper basin above the creek below Hemlock Pass. This past May I went up to Lake Melakwa with Miles and Paul Currit, there was still a lot of snow and I ended carrying Miles through the steep parts. I went back a month later when the snow had melted and the alpine flowers were out. I have long been wanting to do the loop hike up over Melakwa Pass and down to Snow Lake and Alpental. I picked a free Saturday to go and started soliciting for folks to join me. My penchant for early early morning starts (one way to ensure I don't miss out on time with my family) makes find hiking partners hard to find, especially since Seth moved to Vancouver. Carl declined busy with work and family; it looked liked I'd be soloing, but then surprisingly a taunt at work about encouraging them to get out hiking with the "nature-loving-hippy" prompted a couple of interests; Kyle Freeman said he was considering coming. I had already set a compromise start time of 6 in an attempt to entice Carl and Kyle didn't balk so the plan was set.


Over the course of the past couple of weeks a Flickr contact started making more comments on my photos. The renewed interest was a result of her being positioned in Seattle with a contract for Microsoft. She inquired through comments regarding regarding my next hike. Despite correspondence warning her of the 3700 feet of elevation gain and 10 miles, Reena and two co-workers, Sid and Himanshu, met me at the Shell Gas station in Issaquah off exit 15 at 6 am by cab. Kyle joined us a few minutes later and we split up and drove my car and his up I-90 for Alpental (Exit 52) at Snoqualmie Summit. On the ride up Sid and Himanshu noted this was their first time ever going on a hike.

We dropped off Kyle's car at the Alpental parking lot and drove back down the old highway to the Denny Creek trail head. There was one other car in the lot, whose window had been smashed and looted, we'd see them later in the day cleaning off the glass, when transferring cars. Bummer situation to return to. We headed up the trail at 6:45 am, making good time up to Keekwulee Falls, which was a sliver of its former self. Himanshu kept pace with Kyle and myself and we stopped at the creek crossing and waited a few minutes for Reena and Sid to arrive. Some water and we set off again for Lake Melakwa. The trail above the creek climbs steadily and steeply towards Hemlock Pass. Kyle and myself quickly out paced the others. We waited at Lake Melakwa and 20 minutes later Himanshu, Sid and Reena showed up a bit winded. I refilled all of our water bottles and we started up towards Upper Lake Melakwa, a small lake at the edge of a huge boulder and talus field. We crossed the lakes outlet and made our way up through the talus. I mentioned the importance of staying together and we started up the "trail".

Above upper Melakwa Lake the landscape spreads wide between a huge low bowl talus field with high peaks on either side. The rocks from the east cliffs are granite gray and the rocks from the western cliffs are brown, they meet in the middle of the talus field with a distinct line. The trail is really just a walk up the talus field, the easiest way, at this time of year, was walking up the dry creek bed which drains the upper slopes of Melakwa Pass. About a third of the way up a stand of trees makes the creek the only real way forward. As we climbed upwards, the fog and high clouds blew in and out; threatening to make good on the forecast rain, but blue skies skirting behind promised better weather ahead. Climbing over the rocks was fun but a work out for the calf muscles, occasionally Kyle and I would stop and watch the progress of Rena, Sid and Himanshu. A stand of trees blocks the ridge line of the top of the pass; the trail picks up on the left and steeply switches through the trees and huckleberry bushes. Finally at the pass we slump down on the nice saddle and take in the views of Chair Peak Lake 500 feet below us. Snow still lay on the slope before us and edges of the lake.

I had a 1pm lunch date in Issaquah with Jon Madison and his wife Joy, our pace up until now was alright for us to reach there on time, but I was jonesing to keep moving down the trail to make sure I made it. We waited on the saddle until I got the hello shout from Sid when Kyle and I started down to the lake. There isn't much of trail down, a few faint scratches in the mud. I found the best strategy to step from rock to rock, as the angle was steep enough that a step on gravel would end in a slip. If one tried to cross this in full snow an ice ax would be definitely be necessary. Kyle and I had a great time boot skiing down the snow, which was pretty heavily scalloped (I wonder why it gets that way). We got to the bottom of the lake, which was the most gorgeous blue and so clear. Kyle filtered (probably unnecessarily so, but better safe than sorry) a couple b,ottles of water. And we watched and waited for a while as Sid, Himanshu and Reena arrived at the top of the pass and then very slowly started there way down the steep slope. Having never hiked before this was I am sure a very daunting task for Himanshu and Sid. A couple of them slid a bit down the snow and I heard what I hoped were screams of delight. When they were within shouting distance, I pointed the way and left them a bottle of water on the rock and Kyle and I carried on up the steep ridge on the north end of the lake.

The trail above Chair Peak Lake begins to peter out. There is a small depression which was full of water and melting snow and ice. The topo map I had, showed a route that climbed higher on the ridge line and up around to what looked to be a view down into Gem Lake before picking up the Gem Lake trail. It looked a bit of a tough route finding exercise and we were running low on time so I opted to follow a drainage down a talus slope towards Snow Lake to a small meadow. Prior to heading down I made a huge arrow in the snow of a log and rocks and then stacked a series of cairns across the small ridge to the talus slope. At the bottom Kyle and I waited for quite some time for the threesome to appear. Finally I climbed back up the slope to where I had a better view of the top of the slope and finally Sid came into view. They picked their way down the rocky loose talus and boulders. With the wait at Chair Peak Lake and at the bottom of the talus slope it was now clear I was not going to make my lunch date. My nagging concern now became getting back home to Stac who had gone to the ER the night before for a migraine headache and was home with the kids. I hopped and jumped back up the boulder field to where Himanshu was resting and asked him how he was doing. He said he was doing good, no problems and was having a great time. I asked him how the other two were doing and he said "stuck" and smiled, as Sid and Reena were slowly making their way down the boulder field. I left him with the map, pointing out Snow Lake in view below. I said that Kyle and myself were going to go ahead and hike out to Alpental and swap out the cars so that we could save time and meet them at the trail head. I showed him on the map the trail and which direction they should go. Retrospectively, having never hiked I am sure reading a map was also a foreign task to him.

Kyle and I walked along the mountainside skirting some cliffs and then bushwhacked and vegetable belayed down a small creek (full of frogs of all sizes) to Snow Lake. There was a bright orange tent sent up in a small meadow at the far end of the lake. We followed a single boot track trail around the edge of the lake before halfway around hooking up with the main trail from Gem Lake. We crossed the outlet which drained down to the Middle Fork of the Snoqualmie River and passed by the turn off for Rock Creek trail which led down to the Middle Fork. Unfortunately the trail out of Snow Lake has one last hump to climb back over the ridge before steeply switching down a sharp rock face. On the way around the lake and down the trail we must have passed well over 50 people. Kyle was ready to be off his feet and kept a close eye on the approaching buildings at Alpental. We arrived at the parking lot at 3pm and drove his 4 Runner down the old highway to Denny Creek where I swapped out to my car.

I bade Kyle farewell as he returned down I-90 for home and I drove back up the parking lot to wait for Sid, Himanshu and Reena. I had the latest Outside Magazine and an hour and then two passed as I read articles on the up coming movie of Into the Wild and the fascinating article on the Earth Liberation Front. By 5:15 I was worried, they should have arrived. I left everything in the car, took just my car keys and slowly started hiking back up the trail. After 10 miles my legs were in an uncooperative mood as I reluctantly plodded up the trail. Each party I passed I asked them if they had seen a party of three East Indian's, 2 males and a female in their mid twenties at Snow Lake. No one could definitively state they had seen them, a few thought they remembered someone like that, but as I noted previously we passed over 50 people as we descended. I was sure that I would come up on them, as each bend, and each party turned out to not be them I grew more and more worried and my pace increased. Eventually I reached the steep switch backs at the top of the ridge. I shouted, rather hopelessly "Siiiiiiiiiiddddddd" out across the lake. No reply. A couple came into view on the switch back below me, like the others I asked them if they had seen the rest of my party. One girl rather convincingly thought she had seen them, and even described Sid's blue shirt. I had by this point convinced myself, that while sitting at the trail head reading I had missed their descent, they had gotten confused and walked back down to Denny Creek.

I set off down the trail, jogging back to the parking lot. I love running downhill, it requires a mental discipline; a focused acuity on the trail and the placement of your feet. Like a ballet your feet find the flat or safe steps on the trail as you pound downward, over rocks and roots and float over logs and streams. Before long I was nearing the parking lot again, when suddenly a startled mid-sized black bear was running down the trail before me. He stopped as I loped passed staring at him, wishing I'd brought my camera, and watched me carry on as he confusedly moved off into the woods. I reached the parking lot at 6:15 and jumped in my car and drove back down to Denny Creek. Alas no one was to be found. Resignedly I got back in my car and started back up to Alpental, it was time to call in a missing persons report. As I drove back up the old highway, a King County Sheriff was coming towards me in his blazer. I flagged him down and explained my situation. He suggested we drive back up to Alpental and call Search and Rescue.

At the Alpental Parking lot, he called King County Search and Rescue and I spoke with Rich Barton. He asked me the details of the party, the point where they were last seen. Instructed me to stay put while they deployed and hung up. While I waited dusk started to fall, soon a 4-wheeled RV unit pulled up and a series of Search and Rescue personnel in army style jump suits got out. They immediately setup a command post. They were very organized and efficient. The particulars of the individuals were gathered, I realized I didn't even have last names. We established fairly accurately the point last seen. They attempted contacting AT&T and pinging Reena's cell phone which was inaccessible. They started deploying teams. One starting up from Denny Creek to Melakwa Pass. Another starting up Rock Creek in the Middlefork of Snoqualmie, and two heading up Snow Lake, one to the PSL (Point Last Scene) where I had given Himanshu the map and another to start down Rocky Creek towards the Middlefork. An hour passed with communications by radio and coordinating the various teams.

On and off I kept trying Reena's cell phone. It would immediately drop straight into a pre-voice mail messaging noting the number I had dialed did not have a voice mail set up. I was tired, having had no real food since 2:30 and worried sick. Around 9 pm, I tried Reena's cell again, and it rang; a connection went through! But no answer before getting the no-voice mail message. I tried again, and one more time. Finally a distraught sounding Reena picked up, amidst her inquiries as to why I'd left them and her statements about getting lost, I finally got her to tell me where she was. They were in the Middlefork of the Snoqualmie, they had taken the left hand turn down Rocky Creek. They had found a couple who had agreed to give them a ride back out to the freeway. The Search and Rescue requested they wait at the gas station in North Bend who could confirm their identities and close out the case. Then the post leader called out on the radio that the lost were found and return to base. Whew! Rich said to me : "Were done here, you can go home; Thanks for staying with us till the end" With a pat on my back he said "I'm not going to critique you, you know what you did wrong" And off I went into the night to my car with a lot to think about and a burger to buy.

My Lessons Learned

• My biggest mistake, not my first, but the one that led directly to them getting lost was me leaving them. Even though the lake was in sight, they didn't know the area, and two of them lacked hiking experience
• Additionally I shouldn't have taken people who I was completely unfamiliar with, and two of which ended up being first time hikers. Not that I am opposed to introducing new hikers to beauty of the outdoors, but it should be on a much more novice hike. I should have said no to them accompanying me on such a grueling hike with scrambling and route finding or come up with an alternative route when I learned they were inexperienced. Instead I selfishly stuck to my own plans for hiking a long desired route over consideration of others.
• I should have brought my radios. People don't plan on getting separated, though my pushing ahead in a hurry to get back led to the separation. Being prepared though is about anticipating the unknown.
  

Thankfully no one was hurt, except my bruised ego and sense of pride. My humiliation is a small price to pay and I have ample reasons to remember to not make the same mistakes in the future.

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