Snowall Cradle Lake, French Ridge — Friday, Jul. 6, 2012

Central Cascades > Leavenworth Area

Started from Black Pine horse camp at 17:15 on Friday Hiked along Icicle Creek Trail. Easy hike, well worn, no problems. That all changed when we turned on to French Creek Trail. HOLY SMOKES...the skeeters were everywhere. I am pretty sure I will contract cancer from all the DEET. I doused myself at least twice a day, and still came out with over 50 bites! (I would make sure spray and a net are in your pack). Overall, the French Creek section of the hike is somewhat overgrown in parts, and very quiet (except for the occasional creek babble). We hiked French Creek until 20:30 and came across a great campsite by the Creek (We had 3 tents and there was plenty of room for us, as well as a separate site for a fire and hanging our food). Speaking of food...we saw A LOT of black bear sign, so be prepared for that. Saturday, we set out for Cradle Lake (day hike). Continuing along French Creek Trail we ran into multiple blowdowns and a few stream crossings: nothing too major, but we were glad we weren't carrying our packs. We came to the intersection of Snowall Creek/French Creek Trails. Immediately after came the crossing of French Creek...the trail ends at the water's edge, and picks up on the other side...but if you look upstream about 150ft (off trail) there is a stable log crossing. Once we were across, Mosquitoes still in tow, the elevation-gain starts to pick up. This first section of Snowall Creek trail is pretty steep switchbacks, many of them overgrown. The trail levels out a bit after a couple of miles. This next section of Snowall Creek Trail is both the highlight, and the bane of my trip. This "basin" that Snowall Creek runs through is laden with amazing meadows with wildflowers, great views of the peaks surrounding it and tons of wildlife...HOWEVER! My brother-in-law and I had to cross more than 20 multi-tree blowdowns and had to go off trail for a good portion of it. We never made it to Cradle Lake (Snow level at the top looked to be a bit much for what we were equipped to do). We turned around about 2 miles shy of the lake and headed back to camp. Sunday: up at 0600, packed up and left for Black Pine by 0800, back to the car by 1045. Bottom-line: the trip was fun, very challenging in several spots and will be non-existent in a couple of years if some maintenance isn't done. I would do this trail again if I didn't want to see another soul for a few days.