[Bootpathguy]

Nothing sexy about this destination, but it was a beautiful winter wonderland and iconic SalmonLaSac winter weather. Dumping snow, breezy and cold. Thought I'd share what I believe is a ignored spot but it makes for a really cool snowshoe when other, more appealing areas, aren't desired during, and due to, poor weather conditions. Virgin untouched snow and complete solitude. Wanting to get out and enjoy some winter weather, I headed up the I90 corridor with no agenda. The truck was bucking and weaving driving up the corridor heading through North Bend and all the way to the pass. Winds were really screaming through there. Keeping my eye on the eighteen wheelers in front of me anticipating one of them to be blown over on their side. Arriving at the pass, I couldn't tell if it was actually snowing or if it was all airborne snow being distributed from the strong winds. All the exits at the summit were clogged and backed up with vehicles waiting for parking at the ski slopes. Not wanting to hike any of the extremely popular spots there at the pass or at the head of Lake Keechelus I continued to drive east. I was also concerned about falling timber in any of those forest hikes with those limb loaded trees of snow and ice. I stopped in CleElum and got some coffee and a almond croissant @ Pioneer Roasting. Sat there and contemplated my options. Still pretty breezy in this area and hiking in the forest is something I wanted to avoid. Also, absolutely no views to be had on this day. I was in the SalmonLaSac area a few weeks ago and as I was driving along Lake CleElum and the lower section of the CleElum River, looking out at all of that beautiful white, untouched snow, I thought to myself, what a cool snowshoe trek that would be someday. The decision was made. The lake is extremely low and the dry lake bed is covered in a beautiful blanket of snow. I drove up and parked in a pullout along the SalmonLaSac road about 1 mile south of the French Cabin Creek bridge that crosses over the CleElum River. Put on my snowshoes, strapped on my backpack, jumped the barrier and made my way down into the lake bed. I decided to head directly across to the far west side of the lake where the main channel of the CleElum River, at this time of the year, empties into Lake CleElum. Terrific snow travel with the occasional posthole into deep snow drifts. Very windy coming out of the south. I had a handful of small creek crossings heading over to the west side. All manageable with the snowshoes although with a bit of strategy. Didn't appear that far, but the far side of the lake bed is over 1 mile of travel. 1.1 to be exact. I arrived at the main channel of the CleElum, enjoying the sounds of the river and followed its east bank north, until I came to a fork. Here I had to make a decision as I was land locked. Take off the snowshoes and ford the river to its west bank, or back track and follow the smaller creek, ( which I forded earlier further down the lake bed ) to get back on / stay on the east bank of the main channel of the CleElum. I decided to leave the snowshoes on. I found a area where the creek had solid ice and I crossed there. Shallow, so no concerns of swift water danger. Just wet and cold feet if the water has penetrated my boots and gaiters. The ice held. This semi-frozen creek is beautiful! Following the CleElum River, I made my way up to the French Cabin Creek Bridge and this was my turnaround spot. This was my only encounter with the snowmobilers. Fortunately, the winds coming from the south, drowned out any whining of the snow machines. They were all to the north of me. Made my way back down the drainage and dry lake bed. 4.5 miles later I was back at the truck. Again, nothing sexy about this adventure but I was not to be defeated and determined to get out and enjoy the winter weather. Simple pleasures

2017-01-09_11-32-20

Couple short video clips

[olderthanIusedtobe]

I like your frozen river pics.

[Just_Some_Hiker]

The lake is really beautiful right now. When the snow wasn't quite so deep it was one of my go-to running spots. If you like this area I'd recommend Red Mountain and Jolly Mountain, as well as the Sasse ridge traverse.

[some names]

On 1/2/2017 we snowshoed from the Cabin Creek Sno Park up the ridge toward North Pk French Cabin Mountain. In the deep snow we got as far as the top of Pt 4526, the prominent bump in your panoramic picture. Really beautiful views. Nice area in snow. Good snowshoe area.