Pete Lake, Spectacle Lake — Sunday, Jun. 23, 2019

Made it to my 75th trail report! And what better to report on than the trail that leads from the Pete Lake trailhead all the way to Spectacle Lake. The road to the trail is in decent condition, and a little rocky, but most any car should be able to make it there pretty easily. The trail to Pete lake is pretty well maintained, and flat. These miles go by pretty easily, but you get a taste of what is to come as you cross various small streams. Believe me, they don't call them the Cascades for nothing. The views from Pete Lake are nice, and if you go on a weekend, be ready for lots of campers by the lakeside. As you continue hiking you will soon encounter a large stream/river crossing to proceed to Spectacle lake. I decided not to cross here, and instead took the Lemah Meadows trail for about half a mile to its junction with the PCT and turned left along the PCT. This route follows the PCT for about two miles before it converges with the Spectacle lake trail and then follows those two trails almost all the way to spectacle lake itself. Anyway, this route along the PCT will bring you to a river crossing at a bridge that washed out in 2014. I did do this crossing, but you want to be careful as it is deep enough that it could knock you down if you don't have sure footing. The other river crossings have very nice bridges, and after this crossing you will appreciate all the effort that goes into them. The PCT then crosses through a large forest of burnt trees, and plenty have fallen along the trail, so you will find all sorts of ways to pass these logs. Believe me, on this trail you can really get creative with how you deal with logs, because there are plenty to practice on. Finally the trails converged, and the hike up to the lake is pretty well-maintained. The lake had cleared out from the weekend crowds, and it made for a nice place to camp. Overall this was a great adventure, but definitely a good challenge!