[Galadriel]

Driving from my house in Kirkland to the end of the Suiattle River Rd took 2 1/4 hrs Sunday. A beautiful trail with many creek crossings, one of which I had to ford. Abundant wild flowers, including the really bizzare wild ginger flower. I liked the gruesome looking brain funghi(false morel) best, tho. In the meadow, pink monkey flower, Columbia tiger lily, valerian and cow parsley were in bloom. Nice waterfall backdrop too. The log bridge over the river has a 4 ft section of railing missing. I thought I could make it over anyway, but at the last minute chickened out. The river was raging and too far below for my comfort. The only person I saw all day was a private contractor replacing the planks over the bogs. Rain & mist were constant. The signout log at the TH showed 2 people were hiking in to Image Lake-it's on my summer backpack list. Anyone been there?

[Damian]

Been there Gal. See avatar to left.

[Odonata]

If you ever go back there again, continue on up either side of the vallley. Mica lake or Dolly vista I think. I remember that area being super cool. Tons of marmots and views on the vista side. Milk creek is a great early season day hike by itself, I usually go untill I can see Glacier Peak and turn around. -D

[MCaver]

I've wanted to do this hike for quite a while, but wasn't sure what the most conducive weather would be for photography. Judging by Damian's avatar, it would make a nice sunny day hike. It sounds like most of the trial is forested, though? That would make a good cloudy day hike as well. Opinions? Advice? Damian, what lake is that in front of Glacier Peak?

[Steve]

Looks like image lake to me.

[Damian]

Image it is.

[Galadriel]

Nice Picture, Damian, I'm planning a trip in August.

[cave coyote]

Try the pipeline trail that goes to the top of lime ridge. The trail is hard to find and steep but well worth the climb up. Contact me for directions

[McPilchuck]

...the Lime Ridge one-day "fun ?" adventure, see: http://www.alpinequest.com/lime.htm McPil

[foofoofunky]

We did Milk Creek to Mica Lake over the weekend. We almost made it to the lake, but had to camp in the valley right before the final push up and over to where the lake was. From the Milk Creek/Pacific Crest Trail junction at 6.5 miles, it was about 3 miles and 1600 feet to Mica Lake. It ended up taking us 3 hours to do those 3 miles because of dangerous snow crossings. This trail won't be ready for another 3 weeks probably. We pushed as far as we could go and set up camp in the snow next to a big creek with grand views of (damn, my map's at home!) a big glacier (Not Glacier Peak) and several peaks. On the other side were views of the Milk Creek valley and beyond, it was very impressive. Too bad we were so wiped out from hiking for 8 hours or we would have made the sketchy traverse over the last ridge to get a glimpse of Mica Lake. We almost did it in the morning, but the threat of rain caused us to second guess the safety. Saw lots of bear poo and claw marks on trees, but didn't see a bear until we were on Suiattle River Road heading out for about 15 minutes. We startled a black bear crossing the road. He stared us down for several seconds, then continued crossing the road. That was the first bear I've ever seen, so it was pretty exciting! 20 miles in 2 days wasn't the best idea, but I'm actually not too sore today because this was our 7th overnighter so far this year. It is a very pretty hike, and we'll definately go there again.