Weekend Hikes - Lake Serene & Bridal Veil Falls
Summer is out in all its glory and that only means one thing - the hiking season has truly begun. Though avid hikers start their hiking season sometime during the first week of May, folks like me who hike for pleasure start their hikes only after all the snow has melted in most of the trails in this area. Thus, we started our hiking season with hikes to the easier hikes in the area - hike to Twin Falls and the Rattle Snake Ledge. But these were hikes that I have already done. So, I wanted to start the Weekend Hikes series for this year with my first hike that I have not done before.
Lake Serene in the Mt. Baker National Forest area is the one we chose. Though myself & my wife had done the previous hikes, since they both were pretty easy on the difficluty level, this was our first serious hike. The note at the trailhead says that the trail is for serious hikers only. That did not come as a surprise bcos before going on a hike, I usualy read a bunch of trip reports about the hike during the week leading upto the hike. So, I was kind of ready for it.
The first 1.5 miles of the hike is pretty easy as you only gain a total elevation of around 600 feet. There is a sign for a sub-trail that takes you to the Bridal Veil falls and we decided to do it on our way down. You also get a view of the falls (not in its entirety, though) on your way to the lake, just past that sign post. Once past the falls, the trail gets down to some serious business. The remaining 1500 feet of elevation is gained in the next 2 miles to the lake. So, needless to say, it left us panting real bad. Since this was our first tough hike of the season, both myself & my wife found it real hard. But there is one thing that always drives me during such hikes and it is the reward (in the form of a falls or a lake or a view point) that is waiting for us at the top. So, we finally made it to the lake and the lake was worth every calorie that was burnt and worth every foot that was hiked. Since this was early summer, the lake was frozen almost 90%. It was one beautiful sight.
We spent about 45 mins at the lake, had some light snacks and then started our descent back. It is usually the descent that I like most about these hikes but this one was an exception since it was almost as tough as coming up. While coming down, couple of hikers who weren't even close to the half-way mark, asked the often repeated question 'Are we there yet?' and I felt real bad to break them the bad news.
Date: June 28, 2008
Distance: 7.2 miles RT
Elevation gain: 2000 feet
Time: 5 hours (including 1 hour at the lake & the falls)
Directions: From Redmond, go north on I-405 and get off at State Route 522 off exit 23. SR 522 winds down and joins US 2 at Monroe. Drive east through Monroe and continue eight miles east of Gold Bar to the well-signed Mount Index Road on your right at milepost 35.
Notes: 23 switchbacks and a lot of wooden stairs through the hike. Most of the hike is under shades inside the woods with the last 3/4 of a mile that was over small & medium sized rocks.
Lake Serene in the Mt. Baker National Forest area is the one we chose. Though myself & my wife had done the previous hikes, since they both were pretty easy on the difficluty level, this was our first serious hike. The note at the trailhead says that the trail is for serious hikers only. That did not come as a surprise bcos before going on a hike, I usualy read a bunch of trip reports about the hike during the week leading upto the hike. So, I was kind of ready for it.
The first 1.5 miles of the hike is pretty easy as you only gain a total elevation of around 600 feet. There is a sign for a sub-trail that takes you to the Bridal Veil falls and we decided to do it on our way down. You also get a view of the falls (not in its entirety, though) on your way to the lake, just past that sign post. Once past the falls, the trail gets down to some serious business. The remaining 1500 feet of elevation is gained in the next 2 miles to the lake. So, needless to say, it left us panting real bad. Since this was our first tough hike of the season, both myself & my wife found it real hard. But there is one thing that always drives me during such hikes and it is the reward (in the form of a falls or a lake or a view point) that is waiting for us at the top. So, we finally made it to the lake and the lake was worth every calorie that was burnt and worth every foot that was hiked. Since this was early summer, the lake was frozen almost 90%. It was one beautiful sight.
We spent about 45 mins at the lake, had some light snacks and then started our descent back. It is usually the descent that I like most about these hikes but this one was an exception since it was almost as tough as coming up. While coming down, couple of hikers who weren't even close to the half-way mark, asked the often repeated question 'Are we there yet?' and I felt real bad to break them the bad news.
Date: June 28, 2008
Distance: 7.2 miles RT
Elevation gain: 2000 feet
Time: 5 hours (including 1 hour at the lake & the falls)
Directions: From Redmond, go north on I-405 and get off at State Route 522 off exit 23. SR 522 winds down and joins US 2 at Monroe. Drive east through Monroe and continue eight miles east of Gold Bar to the well-signed Mount Index Road on your right at milepost 35.
Notes: 23 switchbacks and a lot of wooden stairs through the hike. Most of the hike is under shades inside the woods with the last 3/4 of a mile that was over small & medium sized rocks.
Labels: Desi Life, Weekend Hikes
posted by Filbert at 12:59 PM
8 Comments:
the lake looks gorgeous but the waterfall is amazing :)
Yeah Balaji, most of the lakes in this region are frozen just like this one. The waterfalls, like you say, was indeed amazing. But after looking at the pictures of Burney falls that you posted, I have already added that to the list of must-visit places :)
filbert ,
wow ! nice pics .
please mail the photos to kumarsplanet@gmail.com .
awesome laks/mountain... just so gorgeous... am sure its worth every calorie u guys burnt...
(came in here after a long time... nice to know u continue ur write-ups.. keep rocking filby)
oops.. typo in my last comment...
easy one though :P
laks = lake..
Thanks Kumar. The high resolution version of these pictures can be obtained by just clicking on the pictures. You can also access more pictures from this hike from my friend's blog:
http://picasaweb.google.com/desihicker/LakeSerene
Let me know if this works for you.
Good to see your comment too, Arun. Thanks for visiting the blog inspite of my prolonged absence. If you had not seen it, the reason for my inactivity was my wedding that happened in Feb 1. Do keep visiting!!
Filbert , Thanks ! Got the pics .
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