Wallace Falls - Lake Loop — Wednesday, Jun. 22, 2011

Central Cascades > Stevens Pass - West

Bill, Bob, Alice and I hiked the Wallace Falls - Wallace Lake Loop. This is one of our favorite early season hikes when snow still covers many trails. The Woody and Greg Ball trails are in excellent shape despite the very wet conditions. Yes, there was mud and puddles, but without the great work done on these trails by WTA, the Boy Scouts, the State Parks, etc. they would have been much worse this year. The falls are very impressive this year with hugh flows. A first for us was a large rainbow in the spray from thundering Middle falls. The road section of this loop had sections of major mud and puddles, especially as you near the Lake where there had been lots of runoff from what used to be minor creeks. Don't plan on sitting on the beach at Wallace Lake as it is so high the beaches are currently nonexistent. Stats for this trip are 13 miles and 2,000' gross elev. with a counterclockwise loop of Woody Trail along the River, road to the lake and return via the Greg Ball and RR Grade trails. A stop at the Alpen Drive In in Startup finished another good day on the trails. PS - Bugs are just starting to come out.