[Nancyann]

Some people who have had a less than magical time at the Greiders most certainly are rolling their eyes at this title. After all, these mountain lakes are famous for their repellent-resistant mosquitos, marauding bears and torrential rains when it is sunny everywhere else. Not to mention the ridiculous two mile road walk crossing fifteen berms, a six foot deep beaver pond across the trail and a raging creek with a challenging foot log crossing. But I know the Greiders well, and had high hopes of a little window of opportunity between postholing up to my hip in deep snow and the imminent and much-dreaded bug hatch. NWhiker Triciaann and I spend Mother’s Day together every year since her husband and son like to fix an elaborate gourmet dinner for her and both my kids live in Germany. We always try to pick a hike that will get her back by dinner time, and this year we took Hiking Partner with us to keep us in line. When we arrived at the trailhead at 9:30, there was only one other party headed up the trail. We crossed the beaver pond by walking across the dam, but Mr. Beaver needs to add more sticks. Thankfully most of the roadwalk was in the shade, and when we arrived at the real trailhead a cool breeze was blowing, making the two mile long slog up the steep ridge almost pleasant. This year, a trail crew has already done some clearing of the winter storm damage, so we made great time. We encountered patchy snow upon arriving at Little Greider Lake and put on our Microspikes after crossing the bridge over Greider Creek at the lake outlet. At this point, the snow was still five feet in many places.

Vesper Peak and the Sultan River from the Greider Lakes trail 5/13/18

Little Greider Lake 5/13/18

Little Greider Lake 5/13/18

Little Greider Lake 5/13/18

Bridge over Greider Creek 5/13/18

Bridge over Greider Creek 5/13/18

Little Greider Lake 5/13/18

Little Greider Lake 5/13/18

Little Greider Lake 5/13/18

The trail between Little and Big Greider Lake had spotty deep snow across the avalanche chute and there was a challenging creek crossing, but nothing too dangerous.

On the trail to Big Greider Lake 5/13/18

There were some interesting snow puddles at the base of the chute.

On the trail to Big Greider Lake 5/13/18

Upon arriving at Big Greider Lake, we were instantly charmed by the pretty reflections on the lake and the cascading waterfalls above.

Spring Thaw at Big Greider Lake

Big Greider Lake 5/13/18

Big Greider Lake 5/13/18

Big Greider Lake 5/13/18

Big Greider Lake 5/13/18

Big Greider Lake 5/13/18

As we basked in the warm sun, cooled by a gentle breeze off the lovely lake, we felt very fortunate to enjoy Mother’s Day together again. Amazingly, as I had hoped, there were no bugs at all!

Happy Mothers Day at Big Greider Lake 5/13/18

After lunch at the lake, we regretfully headed back down the trail, knowing we had a schedule to keep. The walk back in the afternoon light was pleasant since the trail was still shady on this very warm afternoon.

Heading back to Little Greider 5/13/18

Heading back to Little Greider 5/13/18

Afternoon sunlight, Greider Lakes trail 5/13/18

Toad, Greider Lakes trail 5/13/18

Wildflowers, Greider Lake trail 5/13/18

When we arrived at the Spada Lake viewpoint, we were treated to a sparkling view, a perfect ending to a most magical day!

Spada Lake 5/13/18

[RichP]

Those lakes are much nicer than I imagined. I hope it was a nice mother's day for you and all the moms out there.

[evergreenhiker]

I've not been up there since they've moved the trailhead. Looks like a killer day up there. I may go up there first of June or so to see if I can get up to the iedge above Big Greider. The trail has been long closed, but it will be just a bit more of an adventure. Early June is the time to do it before the brush gets crazy.

[Nancyann]

Thank you Rich, it was such a nice day to be up there! This is the best time to visit these lakes and again in the fall when the bugs aren’t so bad. Evergreenhiker, we started up that ledge trail last summer, but ended up crawling on our hands and knees through vine maple. Some of it is snow covered right now, which makes travel a bit easier, but it is still going to be quite a challenge.

[cascadetraverser]

I remember camping up there with the kids in early season some years back and enjoying it. I seem to remember there were no good campsites at the Big Lake which was too bad given how much nicer it is....

[geyer]

Nice trip for a pleasant Mother's day! Was progress made on the boulder creek trail last year? And EvergreenHiker - I'd venture to say that early June is even too late for that area based on my experience last year

[evergreenhiker]

Geyer....fun report and cool pics! I do want to try for those summits too. As for the ledge, I've not been up there since 1994, but it was early June when we went up there....just after the snow melt. The trail was already disappearing then up higher due to washouts, etc. It'll be tougher for sure this time around, but the view is absolutely worth it!

[Nancyann]

Geyer wrote: “Was progress made on the Boulder Creek Trail last year?” I did some brushing out in late May, talked to a gentleman who made it up there at the time who said it was passable. Then I was lured away by the Pasayten where I spent much of June and July, haven’t been back since! The good news is that DNR conducted a survey to see which areas in the Morningstar Recreation Area people were interested in, and replacing the Boulder Creek bridge came in second place. Thanks to all who supported keeping the trail open, because now DNR is now planning to go ahead and replace that bridge.