July 7, 2007: Cradle Lake A deep forested walk beside a rushing creek, followed by a steep ascent through more forest to finally attain the reward of a beautiful alpine lake in a stunning setting. The forecast was for a hot day, but at 5am it was quite cool as I motored alongside Jack Creek. Deep in the forested valley it was quite gloomy. Soon however, a touch of gold on the tops of Blackjack Ridge, across the valley, uplifted my spirits. The appearance of flowers beside the trail worked more wonders, and it was all happy-happy-joy-joy till the intersection with the Meadow Creek trail, about 5mi into the hike. The joy was short lived as I was soon at the ford of Jack Creek. I decided to forgo the wade in favor of a scuttling across on a log. That was definitely a bad idea, since I left quite a bit of flesh on the sharp bark. A short time later I was at the ford of Meadow Creek. Without hesitation this time, it was off with the boots and on with the wade. The water was a couple of feet deep and cold, but not too bad. With the fords out of the way, I was looking for some quicker progress. However, the nice trail (to this point) quickly disintegrated into a mess. Nasty blow-downs, armed with splintered branches became the order of the day. Next up were the gorgeous meadows of the Meadow Creek valley and the junction of the Snowall Creek trail. I wandered for a bit into the meadows to enjoy the fields of flowers, before heading back to the east edge and the Snowall Creek trail that would lead me to Cradle Lake. The trail beginning was completely obscured by a large blow-down (what else!), and I probably would have missed it if it wasn’t for the sign. The interminable blow-downs kept me company as the grade (for the first time) steepened. For the next 1-1.5mi and 1,800ft of gain I wrestled with the trail, until (finally!) the forest began to open up and views started to appear. At 5,800ft and the unsigned junction with the Blackjack Ridge trail I headed left (keeping to the Snowall Creek trail) as the trail traversed around a shoulder (dropping about 150ft) and into the outlet meadows of Cradle Lake. This part is gorgeous! Harding Mountain across the Meadow Creek valley was as in-your-face as one could wish for. Mount Stuart and Ingalls Peaks were also prominent. The final climb up to Cradle Lake was through a garden of flowers; even the trail was obscured at times by said flowers! At 9:40am, I was at the lake. Cradle Lake is beautiful: lovely red rocks on one side and green hills on the other lead to a lovely mix of reflected colors in the lake. Glacier lilies and shooting stars lined the meadows ringing the lake. To the south was a 6,623ft hill; climbing this is a must! The 6,623ft hill sported 360 degree views of various peaks near and far: Highchair Mountain, Glacier Peak, Mount Baker, The Cradle, Mount Rainier, Harding Mountain Ingalls Peaks, Mount Stuart, Eightmile Mountain, Cashmere Mountain… Views of Cradle Lake too were best from here (or from the saddle over which the Snowall Creek trail continued). I explored around the lake for a bit, before reluctantly embarking on the long hike back to the car. More photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/shahiddurrani/sets/72157600712442660 Stats: • Distance (round-trip): ~18mi • Elevation gain (cumulative): 4,300ft • Hiking time: 9.75hrs

This update is to the four travelers that my son and I bumped into at the junction of Meadow Creek trail and Cradle Lake. The Lake proved to have no fish as reported.This was probably one of the hardest hikes via trail I have ever been on. 2000' in 3.5 miles. Whew! The lake was beautiful with the surrounding peaks and meadows. We could see the North Cascades looking north, Mt. Stuart and all the ajoining peaks in the other directions. We could hear Elk bugling across the valleys. Not a hike I would recommend for the light hearted. Bring lots of water as its a long way between Meadow Creek and the outlet of Cradle Lake. If anyone knows why the fish are not surviving in Cradle Lake, please let me know.