We decided to check out Lake Lanham, which is located at the East end of the Stevens Pass Nordic Center, about 5 miles East of the pass. Neither of us had been there but was pretty sure there would be plenty of snow. Unfortunately since the weather has been so nice there wasn't really any powder. The snow was hard and packed down. At least the trail was easy to spot. The hike was listed as being 3 miles roundtrip but sure seemed like a lot more. It always seems that way when you're going up hill in snow/ice.

It was a beautiful day for a hike. It was sunn, not a cloud in the sky and the temp was in the mid-50's though it seemed warmer than that. At one point we crossed a cross country ski trail and watched a few skiers fly by. We continued on into the forest and walks up and up and up. The trail split several times. It was hard to tell which was the "real" trail, but it didn't seem to matter because all the trails ended up going to the same place. We took a few different routes coming back than we had going and it worked out. For it being such a nice day, we were expecting to see a lot more people on the trail but there were surprisingly few.
We eventually made it to the lake which was completely snow covered and sparkling in the sun. There were footprints around the perimeter of the lake but none going across it. Who knows how thick the ice/snow was. People were probably too afraid to find out if it was safe or not. We found a spot to sit down and relax for a bit and enjoy the sunshine and view of the snow covered mountains around us before heading back. We sure made good time coming back since it was pretty much all downhill.
We hiked a lot longer than planned and only had a Cliff Bar for lunch. It was around 3 by the time we got back to Sultan so decided to stop at the Sultan Bakery for some split pea soup and bread. Mmm Here's a few pics from the trip.





Nice shots! Sounds like it was a great day.
ReplyDeleteFantastic shots! Sounds like a good trip. I like the look of those things you put on your shoes. I bet they worked like a charm. Glad the backpack is working out for you; annoying about the clamps/buckles, though. Oh well.
ReplyDeleteThat first snow shot in B/W is absolutely spectacular. That should be published. Really.