[KenM]

After doing the family thing over the 4th at the ocean, I had last Thursday and Friday off. My plan was to go overnight somewhere, preferably on the east side of the mountains to get out of the rain showers forecast for the west side. So, Wednesday night my 16 year old asks what I’m going to do the next couple of days. I tell her and, much to my surprise, she says she wants to go. She’s never expressed one ounce of interest on going on an overnight trip so this floored me. I’ve got an extra pack that will fit her, plenty of spare equipment, a never used two-person tent, and extra food. The only question was where to go. It had to be someplace pretty easy to get to, out of the rain, and somewhere not too crowded. After consulting my copy of 100 Hikes in the Glacier Peak Area, I decided on Myrtle Lake up the Entiat River. Even though the trail is open to motorcycles, I figured it wouldn’t be too busy in the middle of the week. After letting her sleep in Thursday, going out for breakfast, and making the drive over the mountains, we hit the trailhead at 2:30 pm. This is a fairly level trail that heads up the Entiat River. The trail stays mostly in the forest. You can hear the river but very rarely see it. There are a few places where the motorcycles have turned the trail to loose sand and gravel but it’s not in bad shape. There is no brush and the few creek crossings have bridges. This would be a great trail for families or beginners. I let her set the pace and when I could see her slowing down, we’d rest. I always carry a roll of Lifesavers in my pocket, so every once in a while I’d feed her one. After about 2.5 miles, we hit the first water, took off the packs, and took a break. After 15 minutes, she was ready to move on. At 3.5 miles, we hit the trail that branches off towards the lake. After crossing the river, it’s a short quarter-mile uphill to the lake. We decided to follow the trail to the camping area on the south side of the lake. When we arrived at 5:00 pm, there were 4 motorcyclists who were just leaving. So, we had the lake to ourselves. The camp area even has a couple of sites with picnic tables somebody built. I didn’t expect much as far as scenery from the lake. After all, it’s not a very high elevation lake. The water color in the lake is a beautiful turquoise. Even though the shoreline is brushy, there are enough logs to make your way around parts of the lake. After setting up camp, eating dinner, and spending time fishing, it was time for bed. About 11:30 pm, I awoke to the sound of rain drops hitting the tent. Then, I saw a flash but no sound. So, maybe the lightning would stay far away. The worst possible thing that could happen on this trip is a thunderstorm. My kid is more scared of thunder and lightning than anything else and here we are in a tent in the middle of nowhere with no protection. After a few more rain drops hitting the tent, she woke up. Then, she saw a flash, immediately covered herself with the sleeping bag and is now terrified. I counted and we heard the thunder 35 seconds later. Over the next couple of minutes, the thunder got closer and the rain much harder. Fortunately, she was under the sleeping bag and couldn’t see the lightning flashes so she didn’t know the storm was getting closer. Then another flash and this one was only 4 seconds away. It seems the storm was going to go right over the top of us. Then, the next strike was further away, the next further away still and 15 minutes later it was over. About an hour later, we both fell back asleep. Of course, I didn’t cover the packs before going to bed because there was no forecast of rain. I thought they were going to be soaked. Between the storm, and everything else wet, I figured she’d never want to go on another trip. I awoke about 6:00 am the next morning, put on some clothes, and climbed out of the tent. Much to my surprise, the packs were dry. We hung them on nails we found pounded into a couple of the trees and the trees kept the packs dry. The rest of the trip was uneventful. After eating breakfast and taking a few pictures, we packed up and left the lake about noon and made it back to my truck by 2:30 pm. We stopped for burgers and shakes in Leavenworth. When I asked her over dinner if she had a good time, she responded yes. I asked if she was ready to go again, and she said yes, if there’s no thunderstorm! Myrtle Lake

Reflection in Myrtle Lake

Entiat River Bridge