Melakwa Lake, Chair Peak Lake, Gem Lake & Wright Mountain — Tuesday, Aug. 23, 2022

We (my aunt, my mom and my dog) did Melakwa Lake – Chair Peak Lake – Gem Lake – Snow Lake traverse with backpack camping at Gem Lake on 8/23 – 8/24.

We arrived at the Melakwa trailhead at 8:20am. There were not many cars and the weather was great. We used All-Trails app to help us guide through the trail in case we get lost.

We started hiking at 8:30am. There were few bugs at this time. But as we hiked up, bugs became really annoying and we had to use the bug spray. Our dog was doing a little fine but we were tired because we needed to carry our backpacks full of tents and supplies each weighted about 30lbs.

The hike to Melakwa lake was not hard and we arrived at the lake around noon. There were bugs and bees chasing and biting us. Our dog was still doing fine but we were tired and took a long break eating our lunch there. The lake was very blue and clear with light making it glowing. Our shoulders were tired and overloaded with all the weight that we were carrying.

We followed the trail on the left side of the lake to Upper Melakwa Lake, then crossed the section that connects the two lakes and followed the right/east side to go up to the Melakwa Pass. The Upper Melakwa Lake is very small but still very beautiful. We did see one person in the lake.

The trail to Melakwa Pass was hard. It is mostly just rock fields. We were out of breath for a lot of times. Our dog was also tired and asked for help at some times. His legs were a lit bruised and we had to stop a lot. We even had to carry our dog at some times. There were a lot of spiders and bugs.

Finally, we reached the top. The Chair Peak Lake looks like an untouched pristine world. Itself definitely does worth every step and every sweat we had. The path from the top of Melakwa Pass to the Chair Peak Lake was very steep. There were loose rocks and we had to lower our body to avoid slip over. We did see some snow and two white goats. Mom said that was a lucky sign.

We decided to go right of the lake because it is less steep. There were still a lot of bugs and our dog was very tired from the hiking. We were also tired and stopped for a long break at the lake close to its outlet. We also refilled our water bottle there.

After the long break, we decided to pass the outlet of Chair Peak Lake to the left and follow the mountain side to go to Gem Lake. We did see Gem Lake when we were on the top of Melakwa pass. We used All-Trails to ensure we were going the right direction. But my mom’s phone became unavailable for no reason shortly after the break. Fortunately, it came back in about half an hour.

There was a faint trail at the beginning. The path to Gem Lake was extremely hard. We were next to cliff at some point. There were also very big rocks and loose rocks. We used All-Trail app all the way to ensure we were going in the direction of Gem Lake. We could see Snow Lake below the steep slope.

On the entire way from Chair Peak Lake to Gem Lake, we had maintained about 4800ft or above to avoid elevation loss according to advice from previous trip reports. However, to be safe, it may be better to drop even further.

We went through a lots of rock fields and finally we reached Gem Lake. We found a good campsite and began building our tents. Our dog was very tired and I had to let it sleep on top of my sleeping bed. We ate dinner and got some water from the lake.

We went to sleep. I did sleep well but there were bugs making noise in the early morning causing us unable to sleep. We ran out of bug spray, so we couldn’t spray them off. When morning arrived, our tents became very hot inside so we had to eat breakfast outside with the bugs.

We decided to go to Wright Mountain for signal so we could call my dad and give him an update on our hike. The pass there was a little steep with boulders along the way. We lost the trail a lot and had to use the All-Trails app to guide us back to the trail. The climb was also very tiring. We had to rest a lot.

When we got back to the camp, we saw a snake. So we decided to cancel the 2^nd night of backpack camping because of the risk of more snakes coming especially at night.

We went back to Snow Lake. The trail there was downhill and less tiring. There were bugs and they bitten us a lot. My dog was able to walk by himself. We decided to rest at the log bridge after finishing this section of the trail.

We continued back to the Snow Lake trailhead. There were a lot of bugs along the way. We were very tired and my dog had to be carried because he was too exhausted. There were some volunteers working on the Snow Lake trail so the trail was closed except for people who came down.

I would recommend strong people to try and experience the adventure. Just make sure stay prepared and strong along the way.

Edit: want to give a bit more information in case someone else is interested in the traverse. We did a lot of research before taking this hike. First, we had downloaded the offline map and also had the printed hardcopy. We know exactly where the trail stops and where it should get connected again. Second, we read all the trip reports related to Chair Peak Lake and circumnavigation between Chair Peak Lake and Gem Lake, and we know it is doable. Third, we brought ropes, water filtering equipment (not really use though as it was too slow) and first aid kits and plenty of food (at least for three days). And lastly, we had reserved plenty of time for the traverse. Although that section looks daunting, none of us had a single fell or even slip over for the entire hike. The key is to be slow and know the direction and where to get connected and look for the path that you feel confident and comfortable.

Regarding the off trail topic, we never had the idea of cross country hiking before. This is the first time we heard about it (after we did it), so we did some reading. It seems debatable as whether a designated trail hiking or a cross country hiking is better for flora and the overall ecosystem. But for us, we will likely stick with trail hiking for now.