On December 17, 2013, Austen and I headed out to the Gold Creek Sno Park to backpack into Alaska Lake. We got to the trailhead at about 7:30 pm, long after the sun had been down. We had brought our snowshoes, shovels, and ice axes but decided to leave the snowshoes and shovels behind as it didn't look like we'd be needing them. I took my ice axe and Austen decided to leave his behind. There was a slight drizzle coming down so we put our rain gear and headlamps on headed out. The first mile and a half or so was walking down an icy road past cabins until the trial was finally reached. We strayed from the right path once and ended up in front of someones cabin but this was only a slight delay. We hiked along the trail for about a mile until we came out to a clearing right next to Gold Creek. The moon was bright and reflecting off the snow so we had plenty of light to set up the tent. We ended up drinking some whiskey that night and finally tucked in around 11:30.
We slept in until about nine, made some breakfast from the comfort of the tent and packed up camp. Austen had accidentally left his gloves outside all night and they were soaked through. We started out on the trail and soon picked up someones snowshoe tracks. We followed these for about a mile and a half till they ended in the remains of a valley that an avalanche had wiped out in 2010.
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| Looking up the avalanche chutes |
The trail was easy to follow at this point till we were supposed to cross Gold Creek. The trail could clearly be seen on the other side of the river but we didn't feel wading across the freezing water so instead we walked upstream looking for a bridge to cross. After about half a mile with only one of my feet getting wet (I promptly changed the sock on that foot) we found a viable log to cross. Once we were across, we stopped and made some lunch.
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| Austen eating dehydrated chili |
According to the gps, we were only a few hundred yards from the trail so we headed in that direction. Somehow we ended up walking way past the trail in the wrong direction but ended up finding a pretty neat waterfall.
With the gps pointed in the right direction we decided to make a straight approach towards Alaska Lake rather than attempt to find the trail since everything was covered with snow. At this point we were wishing we had our snowshoes since as soon as we starting climbing a snowfield we were post holing with every step. It was exhausting climbing about 1400 feet in half a mile with a fifty pound pack.
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| Austen climbing the snowfield |
The gps said we were about half a mile from the lake but the route required traversing along the mountain. As it got darker, the snow pack began to harden and get a slick ice layer on top. The traversing was proving to be pretty technical and much to my disappointment, we decided to turn around and head down due to the ever darkening sky. My body was exhausted walking down and my steps were getting sloppier. We finally found a suitable place to camp and, despite seeing some good sized animal prints, immediately crawled in the tent after setting it up. From the warmth of our sleeping bags, we cooked dinner and proceeded to fall asleep before nine.
We woke to an 18 degree morning and once again cooked breakfast while still in our sleeping bags. Austen had woken up before me and already made himself coffee so I would have to live without it. We packed up camp and with most of our warm clothes headed out.
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| Camp second night |
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| View up the mountain |
We traced our steps back to the river and crossed again at the same spot. We stopped for lunch at the site we camped at the first day and then made our way back to the parking lot. It was about 1:30 pm and our ride wouldn't be there till after 5 so we decided to make the 3 mile trek to the pancake house at snoqualmie pass to wet our lips with a much deserved beer. This proved harder than originally anticipated but was definitely worth it. Our ride arrived and we made our way home where sleeping in a bed was not a problem. Overall it was a very fun trip even though we did not reach our anticipated destination.
Gear Used:
-Vintage 50 liter North Face Backpack
-REI Half Dome 2 Tent
-North Face Cat's Meow 20 degree bag
-Stubai Ice Axe
-MSR Microrocket Stove
-GSI Pinnacle Soloist Cookset
-Katadyn Hiker Water Filter
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