Hike to Snow Lake and Snowqualmie falls
As I write this blog the song Kal ho na ho is playing in the background making it appropriate for the experience I had in this trip.
Its been a long week and a while since I entered into the realms of mother nature. This weekend , few friends shortlisted to trek along the Snow lake trails in the Snowqualmie forests. It was an hour's drive from my place. It was supposedly a moderate level hike with an elevation of 1400 ft and around 7.2 miles round trip.
We started at around 10.30 am to arrive just in time when the misty clouds were clearing away in the Snowqualmie west summit. All along the drive we could see the clouds covering the peaks of the cascades with slight drizzle as well. The drive in itself was very beautiful.
The trail started with a few series of stairs and slowly up into the thick forests with lush green tall pine trees. The path was not as smooth , but was a bit more rocky and had to be careful as we tread along the narrow trail. All along the way I could see little streams of crystal clear water gurgling and cascading down the mountains like white streaks among the mountains. They were tiny to medium water falls formed by melting snow still intact at the mountain summit.
As we gradually walked up the path, the surrounding landscape was getting more and more beautiful with every turn. I was the slowest among the group coz i was just enjoying the scenery as I walked and not thinking about speed of arrival at the summit. It was breathtaking to see how the mist was playing hide and seek exposing the snow splashed mountains beyond all along.
This area was the Snowqualmie west summit area and in winter it must be a beauty with snow covered on all sides. There was also the ski area just beyond.
The path was getting more tough as we moved higher up. Mud trails turned into rocky ones accompanied with snow still covering here and there adding to the challenge. The trail was covered with snow which was one the verge of melting yet intact. We had to carefully walk over it to move forward.
There was a rocky stretch in between for a mile which was such a different landscape which was a clearing with no trees or any greenery making me feel as though walking into a different area.
As we got closer to the top, the snow covered the entire trail and we had to walk through it to reach the summit. My eyes were on the summit end point and with the help of friends I made it to the top.
All along many fellow hikers going in either directions, greeting each other or making way, encouraging that we are almost there on our uphill climb. I like these small gestures which mean not much yet everything when you need just a boost to motivate you to finish what you started.
Finally i reached the summit and climbed to the top rock and behold What i saw cannot be described.
Mist floating all around and below i see a completely frozen lake with streaks of turquoise blue shading the stretch of white. It was a beautiful work of Nature. Lush green pine trees bordering the lake in irregular patterns adding more life to the scenery as though frozen in time. I felt so mesmerized that i just sat for few mins without any distraction of pictures or talking.
There was a small ledge that was leading down to get a closer view. It was dangerous, but yet our group got down to the ledge...did our photoshoot but again the blanket of mist covered the lake's view in seconds. We waited for the mist to clear out and we could get a better view. Luckily it did clear out and I relished every moment of that view.
We also had our lunch sitting on that ledge. Who would do that??:) except us. But it was an awesome experience. Chipmunks kept coming towards us for food. There were other new birds and animals that we could see. It was quite chill at the top and inspite of this cold these birds and animals adapted to survive in this weather too.
We stayed in the spot for few more mins and headed back. The trial was further down upto the lake, but was closed due to snow.
If you think going up was difficult, walking back was much more. It was more of the snow getting all slippery along the slope which made it more difficult. We had to take baby steps to clear the top stretch before we reached firm ground. Even the trail was relatively hard as the rocky path were all covered with flowing water in some stretches and cragged pieces of rock which we had to carefully clear.
We finally reached down and again i enjoyed every bit of it. I feel like, being amidst nature just recharges me.
We planned to have dinner outside, but we still had a couple of hours before that. So we headed out to Snowqualmie falls. Summer has been so strange this time. Even here as we return from a winter world experience to the falls , it was so bright and sunny that we had to remove all our jackets. It was just a few miles away, yet such a stark difference.
The falls was gushing in full splendor lit by sunlight and rainbows adding to the beauty of the falls. We again hiked to the lower falls ( I know a second one in the same day..though a mini one). This was more tiring than the big one we did. After seeing both upper and lower falls we were famished enough to have a full dinner and drive back home.
On the whole it was a day of adventure, mesmerizing views, motivational thoughts, good friends, funny moments, good food, recharge of energy and hope of exploring more such beautiful destinations.
- Nirmala
Its been a long week and a while since I entered into the realms of mother nature. This weekend , few friends shortlisted to trek along the Snow lake trails in the Snowqualmie forests. It was an hour's drive from my place. It was supposedly a moderate level hike with an elevation of 1400 ft and around 7.2 miles round trip.
We started at around 10.30 am to arrive just in time when the misty clouds were clearing away in the Snowqualmie west summit. All along the drive we could see the clouds covering the peaks of the cascades with slight drizzle as well. The drive in itself was very beautiful.
The trail started with a few series of stairs and slowly up into the thick forests with lush green tall pine trees. The path was not as smooth , but was a bit more rocky and had to be careful as we tread along the narrow trail. All along the way I could see little streams of crystal clear water gurgling and cascading down the mountains like white streaks among the mountains. They were tiny to medium water falls formed by melting snow still intact at the mountain summit.
As we gradually walked up the path, the surrounding landscape was getting more and more beautiful with every turn. I was the slowest among the group coz i was just enjoying the scenery as I walked and not thinking about speed of arrival at the summit. It was breathtaking to see how the mist was playing hide and seek exposing the snow splashed mountains beyond all along.
This area was the Snowqualmie west summit area and in winter it must be a beauty with snow covered on all sides. There was also the ski area just beyond.
The path was getting more tough as we moved higher up. Mud trails turned into rocky ones accompanied with snow still covering here and there adding to the challenge. The trail was covered with snow which was one the verge of melting yet intact. We had to carefully walk over it to move forward.
There was a rocky stretch in between for a mile which was such a different landscape which was a clearing with no trees or any greenery making me feel as though walking into a different area.
As we got closer to the top, the snow covered the entire trail and we had to walk through it to reach the summit. My eyes were on the summit end point and with the help of friends I made it to the top.
All along many fellow hikers going in either directions, greeting each other or making way, encouraging that we are almost there on our uphill climb. I like these small gestures which mean not much yet everything when you need just a boost to motivate you to finish what you started.
Finally i reached the summit and climbed to the top rock and behold What i saw cannot be described.
Mist floating all around and below i see a completely frozen lake with streaks of turquoise blue shading the stretch of white. It was a beautiful work of Nature. Lush green pine trees bordering the lake in irregular patterns adding more life to the scenery as though frozen in time. I felt so mesmerized that i just sat for few mins without any distraction of pictures or talking.
There was a small ledge that was leading down to get a closer view. It was dangerous, but yet our group got down to the ledge...did our photoshoot but again the blanket of mist covered the lake's view in seconds. We waited for the mist to clear out and we could get a better view. Luckily it did clear out and I relished every moment of that view.
We also had our lunch sitting on that ledge. Who would do that??:) except us. But it was an awesome experience. Chipmunks kept coming towards us for food. There were other new birds and animals that we could see. It was quite chill at the top and inspite of this cold these birds and animals adapted to survive in this weather too.
We stayed in the spot for few more mins and headed back. The trial was further down upto the lake, but was closed due to snow.
If you think going up was difficult, walking back was much more. It was more of the snow getting all slippery along the slope which made it more difficult. We had to take baby steps to clear the top stretch before we reached firm ground. Even the trail was relatively hard as the rocky path were all covered with flowing water in some stretches and cragged pieces of rock which we had to carefully clear.
We finally reached down and again i enjoyed every bit of it. I feel like, being amidst nature just recharges me.
We planned to have dinner outside, but we still had a couple of hours before that. So we headed out to Snowqualmie falls. Summer has been so strange this time. Even here as we return from a winter world experience to the falls , it was so bright and sunny that we had to remove all our jackets. It was just a few miles away, yet such a stark difference.
The falls was gushing in full splendor lit by sunlight and rainbows adding to the beauty of the falls. We again hiked to the lower falls ( I know a second one in the same day..though a mini one). This was more tiring than the big one we did. After seeing both upper and lower falls we were famished enough to have a full dinner and drive back home.
On the whole it was a day of adventure, mesmerizing views, motivational thoughts, good friends, funny moments, good food, recharge of energy and hope of exploring more such beautiful destinations.
- Nirmala
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