Melakwa Lake — Saturday, Jun. 25, 2016

Snoqualmie Region > Snoqualmie Pass

Decided to get a quick overnight in with some friends this weekend and picked Melakwa Lake. I had done some backcountry snowboarding in this area and wanted to check it out sans snow. Being that this was in Snoqualmie Pass and a very easily accessible trailhead (paved) the lot was PACKED when we got there a little before 8AM on Saturday. I found a spot, we packed up our gear, put on our packs and filled out a permit. The weather this morning was in the mid-upper 50's and it held that temperature for most of the day. We hiked through clear patches, fog and clouds most of the way. Starting off on the trail there were WTA volunteers (thank you!!) setting up to do trail maintenance. The trail starts gradually and winds underneath I-90W. The quality of the trail during this portion is excellent - wide and not many obstacles. At about 1 mile in you reach Denny Creek and a ford. The creek was flowing decently as it had been raining the night before. The four of us waited for a party to cross and then took our turn - everyone stayed dry. The next portion of the trail is where the elevation gain starts and it pushes onward out of the forest and up to a talus field. There is a beautiful view of Keekwulee Falls along this portion and were people stopped there eating for lunch (both on the way up and the way down). Here is a friendly reminder to pack out what you pack in. After the falls there is a steeper push before the trial flattens out and a second ford over the Denny Creek at 2.3 miles. This ford is maybe a bit trickier than the first because I think more people stop (read: use) at the first one as a recreation site to play in the water. After this ford, there is a gentle grade that starts climbing more quickly once you hit the switchbacks. The trail winds through more talus fields and then back into old growth forests. There are one or two significant blowdowns along this part but nothing that is too difficult to cross. Once we reached Hemlock Pass at 3.7 miles we encountered a forest ranger who was doing some trail maintenance and clearing some blowdowns off the trail. We continued on for the last 0.8 miles downhill and reached our destination. We crossed the logjam over to the day use area which was busy with people despite the cool and damp weather. We navigated around the western side of the lake and across the Upper Melakwa drainage where there were few places to set up camp. My party of four decided on one that was still substantially wet from the night before and figured we would wait to set up camp so as to give the sun (should it peak out) some time to dry off the ground. It didn't. The rest of the day was spent relaxing around the lakes and enjoying the views when they presented themselves. When the evening came, we had our dinner and shortly after got some shut eye. It got a little cold on Saturday night - I'm guessing it was in the mid-low 40's... The sun rose around 5AM and didn't hit our campsite until shortly after 9AM. We enjoyed the crystal clear views, hot beverages and packed up our camp and were on the trail again by 11AM. On the way down we passed at least 25 groups of people and many many more at the first creek ford. We got back to the car just before 1PM and headed out. People were parked all over the place and very poorly (I might add). All in all, we had a great time and it was a great first alpine backpacking trip for most of us this season!