Thunder Mountain Lakes, Thor and Nimbus & Surprise and Glacier Lakes — Saturday, Aug. 26, 2023

Did an overnight at Thunder Mountain Lakes from the Surprise creek trailhead. We didn't really try to start from Surprise creek, but its where the WTA pin took us and we didn't really realize it added about a thousand feet of gain. For us though was worth it because there was plenty of parking, and toilets at the trailhead and Surprise lake.

We were scared by another trail report saying parking was full at the trailhead so we got there semi-early, 9 am on Saturday, to about 9 cars at a trailhead that could hold 15ish with room on the road in for a little more. We're assuming it was also less busy because of the smoke and heat warnings in Seattle over the weekend. It was a little weird having to cross railway tracks but any car could make it in. There was a pit toilet at the trailhead.

Trail up to Surprise lake along Surprise creek was really nice, clearly worked on with some nice boardwalks and lots of places to fill water. Was also pleasantly shady in the morning. Didn't see anyone at all until we got to the lake where we saw two parties of day hikers. Didn't see anyone else on this trail going up to Thunder Mountain Lakes, so this must be the much less popular way. There were two toilets at Surprise lake which were fairly nice without that many bugs.

We took the longer way around to head up Trap pass, adding a little loop before we got to the switchbacks. It added about a mile but was nice and took us alongside the lake. Switchbacks weren't too bad, and there was a little clearing at the top where we headed over to Thunder mountain lakes. The turnoff was fairly obvious if you had a map.

It turns a little scrambly up to the lakes but wasn't that bad. There are a lot of social trails and it is a lot harder finding your way up than down. There aren't very main cairns and a lot of options so we generally tried to stay on the most traveled path. On Gaia this is the East most trail option.

We got to the lake around 3PM and there were 4ish other parties ahead of us. 4 more parties arrived within the next hour after us. Was pleasantly surprised at how little people were up here since we were expecting madness from the trip reports, but again - it was probably because of the smoke and heat.

By the time we got there most of the secluded spots had been taken besides the larger spots where you could fit 2, 3 or even 4 tents so we took a semi-secluded spot with the hope that the other parties would take the bigger spots or further away spots. Both the spots next to us ended up getting taken though so we were pretty close to other campers. If you want to have your own little space, this is probably not the overnight for you.

We scrambled the peak to the East first while it was light out which gave some nice views of the actual Thunder Mountain and eastward. The scree up and down this was a little nasty and honestly worst than Nimbus.

After that, we went swimming in the lake which was a nice temperature. About the same as all the other 6500 foot lakes this year which is a little chilly but not all that cold. Takes a while to go numb.

After dinner I went up Nimbus and scrambled along the ridge a bit for sunset. The best route is probably sticking a little bit to the right then going along the ridge. I went kind of straight up the rocks under the trees on my way up and it was steep and a little slippery, so I cut across behind the trees on the way down for a nice easy descent. No matter which way you go though its not that bad. Sunset was pretty from up there and there was a nice flat rock everyone was sitting on.

There were barely any bugs at the lake at all but there were mice. Not even Pikas, just mice and they wanted to eat the food. We hung our food from a small tree and were fine but people who just left their food on the ground had problems. There was also not as much smoke as in Seattle, we never had any problems breathing and it didn't smell smokey. It didn't get that cold at night (55-60ish) but it also didn't get too hot during the day, maybe maxing out at 75-80. The trailhead was 69 when we got down and it was 85 in Seattle. Made for a nice weekend escape from Seattle.

Left around 8 the next morning after seeing some nice morning light and were down to the parking lot around noon with a stop at Surprise lake. We did the switchbacks on the way down this time and it was a little less nice. At the bottom it was a little more full than the previous day but still a bit of parking along the road.

Including the peaks, Gaia clocked 18 miles RT and 4800 gain.