Spectacle Lake — Saturday, Jul. 18, 1998

Snoqualmie Region > Salmon La Sac/Teanaway

On Tuesday afternoon, we headed out on the Pete Lake Trailhead at Owhi Campground under overcast skies. Within minutes we were engulfed in voracious mosquitoes. Dripping in DEET, we continued to Pete Lake and on to Lemah Creek. As we approached Lemah Creek, we heard a loud crack, then watched an old snag topple to the forest floor with a tremendous thud and explosion of wood chips. After dropping our packs at the campsite, we quickly found the downed tree and became the first people ever to walk on it. Drizzling skies and a pesky field mouse prevented totally peaceful slumber. Wednesday morning was still overcast. We crossed Lemah Creek on a downed log and headed toward Spectacle Lake joining the PCT in about a mile. We met a few PCT hikers at Delate Creek, each were covering between 15 to 22 miles a day on their Stevens Pass to Snoqualmie Pass leg. Well into the switchbacks of our climb, we came to a bridged crossing of refreshing Delate Creek Falls. Midway between Pete Lake and Park Lakes we left the PCT and took the main trail into Spectacle Lake and the incredible beauty of what we saw immediately awed us. We made camp on the near side of lake with views of 3 Queens, Chikamin Ridge, Chikamin Peak and Lemah Peak. Mosquitoes were out, not nearly as voracious as those were near the trailhead, yet we still needed DEET. Chipmunks and a field mouse were quick to our food as we were loading up the bear bag. We found we had to keep the bag hung unless we could watch it 100% of the time. There were annoying breaks in the serenity of the wilderness since the lake area is in the flight path from Sea-Tac, but we quickly accepted the occasional interruption and got quite good at correctly locating the plane, a good distance away from where the sound was coming. Thursday morning we awoke to the bluest of skies and absolutely no clouds. We were soon treated to the sight of two bald eagles circling into the basin. We took the self-guided tour of the entire area, recording many of the spectacular views with our cameras. Seemingly out of place, we found lily pads floating on a pond a short distance from the lake. The waterfalls on Chikamin Ridge seemed to have dried up overnight, but the warm daytime temperatures began the snowmelt, and soon the falls were once again roaring back to life. We enjoyed checking out every inch of the peninsula, which nearly splits the lake in two, before heading back to camp for an icy swim and a nap. When the temperature inside the tent reached 104.8, we headed back to the water. A later check showed the inside temp at 139.4. Once the sun went down, jackets were a must. We laid out on the rocks watching the stars come out and satellites orbiting by. Friday morning, another perfectly gorgeous day without clouds, we packed a daypack and headed toward Glacier Lake. We never found a trail, so bush whacked all the way. The lake was alpine-perfect. We had lunch at a high point above the lake then explored every inch of the area. A couple of guys we had met at Spectacle Lake, and their dog Milo, were cliff diving into the lake. Then they inflated a couple of one-man boats, and were paddling around in the lake when we left. They were planning to proceed to Chikamin Lake yet that day. Whew! We headed back to Spectacle Lake on another non-trail bush whacking adventure, arriving back at camp with a bit of sunburn and scrapes, cuts and a slightly swollen ankle. That night, as we slept, a field mouse made it to our bear bag, which was suspended 10 feet from a snag on one side, and about 50 feet to a tie-off tree on the other. Saturday morning, another perfect blue-sky day, we reluctantly packed up and left our beautiful camp, heading back down to Lemah Creek. With DEET supplies running low, we opted to go without, saving one-third bottle for Sunday's mosquito feeding-frenzy near the trailhead. We spoke with lots of PCT hikers, most trying to cover the 20-22 miles to Sno Pass yet that day. Just after we junctioned onto the Lemah Creek trail, we encountered a nice group of Boy Scouts from Troop 622 in Bothell. They were heading up to Spectacle Lake for the day. Over the log again, we arrived at Lemah Creek at lunchtime, set up camp and relaxed the day away. Scores of hikers use this junction of the trail, and for awhile, it seemed like Grand Central Station. The field mouse was out again, and much to our surprise, again our bear bag was assaulted in the night, this time he had to tightrope at least 15 feet from the top of a 20 foot snag to reach it. On Sunday morning, under partly sunny skies, we left Lemah Creek. We stopped for a few photos at Pete Lake before donning our DEET 2.5 miles from the trailhead. They buzzed, they swarmed, they annoyed, but they didn't bite! We met lots on dayhikers heading in, but the wildest one was the fellow carrying his little gray kitten in a large plastic flowerpot, claiming not to have found a babysitter. Back at the trailhead, we had a nice note under our wiper from the Forest Service thanking us for purchasing our Trailhead Parking permit. We changed clothes and headed for the Roslyn Café for lunch before returning to the ""real world"".