At lunch on Friday I ran up to REI in Tacoma to get a new NW Forest Pass as my old one expired end of July. Weather was forecast for clear and mid 80’s for the weekend. So I got up early Saturday and started on my favorite Snow Lake trail at Alpental at 7:45. A few people there already, but nothing compared to what I’d see when I headed back to the car.
From the car to the saddle overlooking the lake is only an hour, about 2 miles. Mostly in sunshine. From there down to the lake is about 1/2 to 3/4 mile and at that early hour in the shade. I got to the lake at 9, and it was clear as glass, no ripples, perfect for taking pictures.
I ambled along around the lake, more or less headed up to Gem Lake, another 2 miles. There were patches of snow to walk thru/across. It started getting seriously warm. In fact, the minute I headed down to the lake from the saddle it was distinctly warmer. About a mile and a quarter up from Snow Lake towards Gem Lake, I went off trail and found a nice view spot away from others to sit and relax. Thats where my Boot picture(#3 above) was taken. I never did make it all the way to Gem. It was about 10:30 at this point and I was hungry so ate my lunch. It was warm enough out that I decided to head back about 11:30.
Going back to the trailhead, there were hundreds of people at the lake and heading up. Parking lot was FULL. Back to the car at 1:30, back home at 2. Relaxed the rest of the day, I was tired. But a good tired.