[Gil]

I thought I was being pro-active by picking out this hike. The plan was to get out of the house right after the kids left for school and hike up to Glacier Lake. But ... That second cup of coffee tasted good, and those bills needed paying, and I really needed to drop that envelope off at a friend's house. So I was underway by 9:20 and at the trailhead (just beating a train across the tracks!) at 10:50. Of course, that really didn't leave enough time to get up to Surprise Lake, let alone Glacier, but I thought I'd just see how far I got. The TR: Patches of snow begin at about 1 mile. The main log bridge over the creek is intact, but there's one lesser bridge that's been smashed exactly in two by a tree. Before 2 miles, the trail starts playing cat and mouse under the snow and does so on up toward the lake, diving in for large chunks, then reappearing for a while on the last set of switchbacks up to the lake. The snow is at the stage where there's lots of possibility of tumbling through into rock and log holes. Several avalanche chutes testify to the amount of snow we got this year.

Avy chute

The farther I got, the more it seemed like I might be able to make the lake by my 12:25 turnaround time. As the last minutes ticked away toward 12:25, I was less than a quarter mile from the lake. What to do -- could I tack on an extra 5 minutes and still beat it down so I could get back to school on time? At 12:25, I decided not and headed back. So sad not to see the lake. It was a beautiful trip back, though. Love that creek, especially when it's running high. Some sun peeked through and lit up the side hill -- the new leaves are really green right now.

Enfolding sunny spots of greenery

So back down, the last mile with a little drizzle, but not worth putting on a rain jacket for it was so warm out. Back to the car by 1:37. Drat! I could have taken the extra time and hit the lake! So 1 hour, 35 minutes up and 1:12 back. Still a worthwhile day. But isn't any day on the trail?

[Opus]

Good report! I tried to make it up there twice on snowshoes over the winter. The first time was after a major snowfall day and wore myself out crossing over all those mini bridges then trying to cross the creek. Return trip a few months ago I tried staying to the right of the creek all the way in since the bridge-log had huge snowbanks on either end. Worked great but those avalanche chutes had just recently let go so I had to turn back. Still great trail for summer or winter, very nice deep forest feel to it.

[Bryan K]

Great hike! I went up there in Dec. '04 and was aw strikken by the amount of snow. Sorry to hear you weren't able to make it to the lake this time. Next time. Like the avy chute pic, poor trees didn't have a chance.

[wildernessed]

It can be a slog in the snow, now if the snow is consolidated and you left early before the sun touches it's surface to long you can make decent time, otherwise postholing could be your major activity of the day. I was up there in winter 04 and had a mixture of hard and soft snow and eventually found myself stuck up to my chest in it with my foot stuck in some trees about 3-4' below me, this spot occuring just after a hard section which I walked over. It was tricky, very nice though. You think about those things, and turn around times, even more so when your solo. I have fallen to the time consumiing need to have and arrived late, getting . , but my goal is to try and be on the trail by 6-7ish if possible.

[wildernessed]

Well, you do it for the same reason either to beat the soft snow to a summit or other lower destination and/or the heat. Mt. David last year on one of the hottest days of the year was smoking and Pinnacle Peak was a posthole until we camped overnight and got up at dawn to nearly rock hard snow. Early is good if you want to make the distance and gain easier, but yeah I have my target times, which I miss more often than not to my own detriment. But that morning cup of Joe is almost essential.