WTA Volunteer Vacation – 6/12 to 6/18

Spent the week working on the Holden Lake Trail. We cleared a bunch of blowdowns and did a lot of brushing from the junction with the Cloudy Pass Trail up the switchbacks to the lake. The trail is in much better shape now—way less brush to push through. We also made the stream crossing on the switchbacks safer by uncovering more rocks and trimming back the dense woody growth.

Day Off Hike – Hart Lake (with an Attempt at Lyman Lake)

On my day off, I hiked up to Hart Lake and tried to keep going toward Lyman. The trail to Hart Lake is in great shape—just a little brushy in the lower forest, but totally manageable. The lake is beautiful. Highly recommend having lunch on the rock bar and checking out the “reclining chair” rock—super fun. There’s a designated camp area and a privy at the lake too.

Past Hart Lake, things get rough. The trail is super overgrown—lots of alder, and I was basically tunneling through it. My headnet kept getting snagged on branches. I made it about 1.5 miles past the lake before I saw some cougar scat and decided to turn around. Was hiking solo and didn’t feel like risking more bushwhacking.

General Tip

Bring bug spray. Lots of it. And definitely do a tick check after any of these trails—especially with all the brush.

I just returned from four days of clearing this trail. What a gorgeous spot to work!

The trail to the lake is now cleared of all logs but one, which is easy to get over. The trail is brushed 1.3 miles up from the junction with the Hart Lake trail. There are a few brushy sections past that, but they aren’t too bad. The last photo here is my brushy view from lunch on Day 3 (now cleared). There are a couple stream crossings for which poles are helpful, but nothing too difficult.

The lake is gorgeous! If you’re lucky, you’ll run into the marmot sentry. There is also a privy at the lake.

Always passable, one tree down on it. Lots of vegetation along it (pants better than shorts if you are sensitive to plants). More sun than shade

Strenuous hike with switchbacks. Some sections of loose rocks and snow crossing near summit. Beautiful alpine lake views make it well worth it!

A trip report for Holden Lake. For what purpose, one may ask? Stayed the weekend at Holden Village with some friends but we could not find anything prior to arrival nor info at the village regarding trail conditions so maybe this will help someone. 
We started at the Village. The trail was pretty straightforward for the most part, a few trees to crawl over under and bushy in areas. There are at least 5 stream crossings at this writing, and all except for the last are fairly easy, though 2 were kind of a stretch to keep the shoes completely dry, but nothing over ankle deep. 
About 1/2 mile or so from the lake snow patches start, are interspersed with bare trail, and while sloppy, poses nothing more than an annoyance. 
The issue we encountered started about 1/4 mile from the lake where the snow is continuous, deep, and rotten. There is lots of water under the snow and we both post-holed up to our waists more than once, and ~1/8 mile from the lake (so close!) chose to turn around rather than risk injury worse than the abrasion and bruising already experienced.

That said, the views were fabulous from the trail and there are a lot of wildflowers blooming or getting ready to bloom, only about 2.5 miles up, so still worth the trip. 
I think another week, definitely two, the last little bit will be more melted out and not so sketchy.