Boulder Lake 8/13/2005 The Boulder Lake trail is in the Sultan Basin which is a NRCA (natural resource conservation area) administered by the Wash. State DNR (Dept of Natural Resources). It is located about 12 air miles north of the town of Sultan on hiway 2. The basin road starts as a paved county road off the hi-way but becomes gravel, dusty and slow after the first 8 miles. The low elevation (1700 ft.) trailhead has good parking and a modern outhouse. The weather was perfect, a warm sunny, blue sky day. I picked this Mountaineers hike out of several that were available to sign up for on this date because my old friend Susan was leading it and because it was to a new area that I had long been interested in exploring. The first mile is the steepest part, and rocky, as it climbs up an old logging road through dense 2nd growth forest. We passed an 8 foot diameter cedar stump about a half mile up. After leaving the road the trail crosses a rock fall area through brush, shrubs, ferns, and a few late season flowers. We were high enough to have some valley views of the peaks to the north in this section. Now, still climbing at a moderate grade, we left the rocks and continued on a nice smooth dirt tread the final two miles to Boulder Lake, which is the end of the trail. Patches of old growth forest appeared as we climbed, and the forest became more open with a few peek-a-boo view spots. At last in the last mile we were in real ancient untouched forest with big trees all around. About 1/2 mile before reaching the lake we crossed a bog meadow on cedar puncheon. Here only late season blue Gentian were still in bloom. The only other wildflowers of note were pink Foxglove and pink Fireweed much lower down on the trail. Boulder Lake was reached after 4 miles, right at it's outlet stream, crossed on a nice little bridge. The lake was shining in the sunshine for us, with deep blue and rich turquoise coloring. There were silver sparkles on the wave tops in the light breeze. It was very beautiful and much better than I had expected. A rocky ridgeline with two peaks rises about 1000 ft. above the east lake shore. Forested ridges rise almost as high on the north and south sides. The west shore has a beach, 5 backcountry campsites, and blueberry meadows with a view of distant Static peak. Big logs on the beach were great for eating, sunning and relaxing. The lake water was warm and pleasant for tired feet. But some of us preferred the shade under a grove of big hemlocks. First I took photos of the lake from many different angles, then ate a leisurely lunch with my hiking friends, then took more photos, and finally was seduced by the blueberries. This was my best ever blueberry hike. The lakeshore meadows were covered with 3 of the sub species of this wonderful Cascade fruiting shrub. They were fully ripe, plump, and sweet: thousands of juicy berries. I picked so many that I couldn't eat them all, a first, and took home a bag full for Sunday breakfast. On most hikes the berries are along the trail, not at the destination, so there's only an opportunity to skim a few while hiking by or on brief stops. But this day I had a two plus hour lunch break for picking and so many loaded bushes that our 11 person group couldn't hope to make more than a tiny dent in the supply. Northwest Huckleberries are all Blueberries in the family Vaccinium. There are several sub species with slightly differing leaves, and sizes, and berry color: blue, blue with a silver gray cast, black and red. Lower on the trail there were also ripe thimbleberries and salmonberries. This was just an exceptional berry day, also a fine day for solitude in the wilderness. We shared the lake with a couple of backpackers; and a pair of hikers left as we arrived. The NRCA areas are designated by our state legislature and are managed by DNR in a way similar to federal wilderness areas. In another century or so the lower forest here will have grown up and all the old logging scars will be obliterated. At that time the Boulder Lake trail will pass through fine wilderness forest for it's entire length. This area is adjacent to the new Congressionally proposed Wild Sky Wilderness. So hopefully the whole region will some day be protected for our grandchildren and descendants to enjoy. Statistics: 8 miles 2000 ft. rise High point 3750 ft. (Boulder Lake) Max temp. 75 degrees Visibility 20 miles 61 miles from my North Seattle home (but a two plus hour drive) Robert Michelson

The Boulder Lake trail is obviously little used and little maintained. The nettles and mountain wild roses are crowding the trail and some of smaller plants are growing right in the tread. The first mile or two up the eroded logging road and then across the old avalanche apron is very stony and ankle threatening. Up in the trees the trail is gentle and very pleasant. There are only two blown down trees, both minor obstacles and some sloppy snow above 3500 feet which should melt out in about a week at these temperatures. The boardwalks and bridges are in fine shape and the lake with its campsites are quite beautiful. The lake ice sheet is very thin and rapidly melting. Spring is here and so are the flowers. Trilliums and Bleeding Hearts, Queen's Cup and Glacier Lillies, Skunk Cabbage and Shrubby Cinquefoil were all out to decorate the trail. It was a glorious day for an easy hike. We reached the lake in 90 minutes and the return trip took about the same length of time.

Nice hike, close to home. I really liked the trail, a lot of variety....makes it go pretty fast. It didnt seem like a real well traveled trail and we only saw a couple people on the way up and down. We stayed one night, but due to the elevation it seemed we were stuck in a cloud. It was drizzly, if not raining most of the time we were there. Dry firewood was scarce...bring a saw and be ready to walk awhile to find any downed trees. All in all it was a great experience though, the lake is Beautiful.

Except for the swarms of biting flies (black flies) and frequent showers, we had a peaceful and relaxing overnight camp at Boulder Lake. Seems no one else knows of the beautiful location :-) Trail is well maintained except for a section about 1 mile in the valley that is quite overgrown due to lack of use. Great campsites by the lake and covered toilet (complete with toilet paper). Fireplaces and bench seating at some sites. We will return to this hidden treasure after fly season.

Besides the rain and extremely wet brush on the overgrown trail, this was a wonderful hike. There was just a little bit of snow on the far end of the lake on the rock slide; the lake was crystal clear and the fish were jumping.