Alpine Lakes 2004
Pete Lake Trail to Tired Creek trail which is a pretty stiff climb with pretty narrow switch backs. Tired Creek crosses a dirt fire road and ascends out where it tops out on a along a pretty ridge with a nice meadow and then steeply descends down the Quick Creek drainage to Waptus Lake. You really don't get a view of the lake until the very end of the trail due to the heavy forest coverage. You then have to double back along the Waptus river until you come to the bridge crossing and then meander through forest to the east end of Waptus Lake. This is where the most beautiful campgrounds are located with nice views of Bears Breast peak. There trail leads to several large campgrounds that are obviously frequented by pack groups, back down towards the river however are several smaller more secluded campsites. We had the entire lake to our self, probably due to the rain that had poured the previous 4 days but a guide book mentioned that these campgrounds can be quite crowded. There were also several other camp grounds that we passed on day two along Waptus Lake heading toward the west end.
The trail leaving the east end of Waptus Lake follows the shoreline of the lake through a beautiful forest. We had originally planned on heading up to Lake Ivanhoe, however along the path we met a scout troup. First came the boys who wished us good luck and noted that it "had sucked". Next we came upon the leaders who told us how they got pinned down at Lake Ivanhoe due to 4 days of rain and swelling creeks that made it impassable. They suggested that we consider Shovel Lake, which they described as having a trail up to a talus field and a "short scramble" up to the lake. The trailhead to Shovel Lake is easy to miss to find. Someone has covered the trailhead with a log and brush. Heading west, about a 1/4 of a mile pass the rickety bridge that croses Spade Creek there is a bend in the trail, if you see the PCT trail marker on a tree you have gone too far. The trail is not very traveled and is a bit over grown. It winds along a ridge till it pops out on the top and there is nice campsite accessible to pack horses with a very nice fire pit. The trail then climbs steeply up the ridge where it meets the talus field. From here the "short" scramble begins, which is not short at all and more like one and half miles. Traversing from the talus field to the campsites took us about 2 1/2 hours. Along the way depending on the season and the height of Shovel Creek you might have a decision, to bush whack to the left (west) or right (east) of the falls. At around mid-point the creek was subterranean and we could have easily crossed the creek and gone around on the left. We went up on the east side of the falls and came down on the west side of the falls. I think that the east side while steeper involved a lot less bush whacking than the west side. Shovel Lake is beautiful, remote and the campsite sits at the end of lake in a large cyprus grove.
Climbing out of Shovel Lake is a daunting task, we chose to cross on the west side of the falls, which was a much longer bushwhack and ultimately more harrowing since we were never sure where we would come out and whether or not the creek would be passable or not. From there we interesected with the Pacific Crest Trail and began climbing the switch backs over the ridge. I had never hiked prior to this a single mile of PCT, however a guide book noted this as the most beautiful section of the PCT between Snoqualimie and Steven's pass. The east end of the trail leaving Waptus heading towards Snoqualimie has long switch backs with a gentle grade. The trail climbs the ridge often along clifts and offers amazing largely unubstructed views of Bears Breast and the ridge east to Stevens Peak. At the top of the ridge the trail wanders along the high ridge through beautfiul alpine scenery. At the first small alpine lake there is a carpet of 1-3 inch huckleberry ground cover that in August was laden with berries. We didnt want to make the long slog down the otherside of the trail and just before the down slope there is another small lake with a nice campground where we spent the night. At this end of the trail you are wandering through the remains of the Waptus fire of 1994.
Heading down from the alpine lake the trail has even longer switch backs that wind through first burn and then later across several creeks. The views of the range across from you is largely obscured by the forest. The trail ends a beautiful meadow and winds down to Pete Lake, which we blew by as we were on our last leg to the trail head.
