Cutthroat Lake — Thursday, Jun. 28, 2007

North Cascades > North Cascades Highway - Hwy 20

Decided on an easy hike for my first outing of the season in the North Cascades. Cutthroat Lake is an easy 4 mile round trip on the longer trail to Cutthroat Pass. Elevation gain is mild, gently climbing through open woods, and the trail is in fantastic shape (no blowdowns, hardly any roots or rocks in the trail). A fair number of cars in the parking lot, but most of those folks must have been up on the PCT because there was only one set of campers at the lake. This trail is popular on summer weekends, but a trip on a weekday provides lots of solitude. Some snow patches near the lake, but trail is clear the whole way. No bugs yet, but I'm guessing that will change in another week or two. Fido loved all the streams and swam in the lake until he shivered. (Bonus: Both Gorge and Diablo dams were releasing water; it's a beautiful and rare sight to see rushing water in the gorge above New Halem when you're driving on the 20). The trail to Cutthroat Lake and Pass is a 2.5-3hr drive to just east of Washington Pass from Mukilteo.