Lake of the Angels — Monday, Sep. 5, 2011

Olympic Peninsula > Hood Canal

Everything I’ve read about the difficulty of this hike/scramble and the stunning beauty of the lake setting is true. Driving to the trailhead the road washouts were too much for my Toyota Avalon so I parked a couple of miles from the trail adding about an hour and a half to the total trip time. Did notice that all the vehicles parked at the trail were high ground clearance 4WD. The trailhead is well marked and easy to find but the sign does not list Lake of the Angels. It does tells you that the maintained trail ends after mile 2.0 - you'll still have another 1.8 miles of grueling, unmaintained trail before reaching the Lake. The WTA description does a good job of summing up the trail. I do though disagree with the statement that “It’s not dangerous”. The very steep scramble over the headwall is on the edge of a dropoff where a fall would likely be fatal. The handholds are good but require some stretching - the consequences of a slip are dire. I removed my pack and took lots of time negotiating this part; I found it was harder going down than up. Crossing the meadow, before the final assent to the Lake, the trail can be confusing. At the large pond, about 100 feet wide, take the left fork at the upper end of the pond. The trail to the right appears to be more traveled but it does not get you to the Lake. I talked to two different groups that had taken the wrong (right hand) fork and they warned me of the mistake. When I finally made it to the Lake it was 4pm, my designated turnaround time. Be warned, once you see the sweeping beauty of Lake of the Angels you will not want to leave. I just wanted to sit and soak it all in for a couple of hours but this late in the day I had to cut the time to a meager half hour. GET AN EARLY START - YOU’LL WANT TO SPEND SOME TIME HERE. As the Lake came into view three goats at the other end of the lake headed up the slope and disappeared into the greenery. I had the place to myself for about 20 minutes before a couple arrived. I worked my way around them and headed back down leaving them to enjoy the solitude. The steep trip down is hard on the knees; trekking poles reduce the impact. I was out of the woods and on the dirt road just before dark. The 45 minute road walk back to my car was mostly in the dark. From the trailhead to Lake of Angels: 5 hours (NOTE: Two other groups I talked with made the trip up in 3 hours.) Trip down: 3.5 hours Age of hiker: just shy of 62