Snow Lake — Monday, Dec. 31, 2018

TLDR: it was a gorgeous hike, but the avalanche danger is high so exercise extreme caution. We almost got caught in a few small ones and didn't make it to the lake. Snow covers the whole trail, but you don't really need snowshoes unless you are trying to push through the top to the lake.

The first thing I have to report about this trail right now is heed the avalanche warning. We attempted this hike on New Year's Eve, and couldn't have asked for better weather. It was sunny and warm with blue skies; a tempting break from the rain that we couldn't resist. I had done this hike a number of times before, but never in the winter when it was covered with snow. I saw the avalanche warning at the top of this page, and I paid attention to it but I have had avalanche education and am a pretty confident hiker, and having done the hike I didn't think it could be that bad.

Unfortunately, gorgeous winter weather means a higher risk of avalanches as the snow melts in the sun. For most of this hike, there wasn't really any danger for avalanches. It gradually rises along the side of the hill. Even in the snow, it was an easy hike. However, right as you begin to climb the ridge to go up and over to the lake, it gets steeper and the avalanche danger becomes much more real. We didn't make it to the lake, and neither did three of the other groups we had a similar pace with. We all turned around at the same spot, maybe 100 feet from the top of the ridge, tantalizingly close, because of the avalanche danger.

Once you get to the switchbacks, the trail becomes much more difficult to spot because frequent avalanches cover it up. We pushed on because we knew which way the trail went, but on one of the last switchbacks, we almost got caught in three small avalanches that happened as we were trying to traverse the switchback. They were pretty small, and we probably would have been fine had we gotten caught in one, but it was more than enough to convince us and everyone else to turn around. We passed a couple who had tried to get to the lake this time last year, and they said they didn't make it then either. 

While we didn't make it to the lake, before the terrain got dangerous it was an absolutely beautiful hike. The entire trail is covered in snow by now, but you don't really need snowshoes until you get to where there were recent avalanches. I had mine because I was eager to use them, but my parents didn't wear theirs most of the way. We had our dog, two-year-old German Shorthaired Pointer, and she did just fine up until we had to turn around. If you are confident in avalanche terrain and know where you're going, you could make it to the lake. If you aren't, this is still a lovely hike. Just trust your gut when deciding to turn around.