Edds Lake
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Ranger's Report

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Roads

Distance:	8.9 miles one way
Hiking Time:	5 hours
Trailhead Elevation:	3000 ft
Elevation Gain:	+2750, -1452 ft
Season:	July - October
Difficulty:	Strenuous
Rating:	Best - Very Good - Good - Fair
Use:	Light
Users:	Hikers
Region:	North Bend Ranger District
Maps:	USGS Snoqualmie Pass, Chikamin Peak North Bend Ranger District Map Printable Topo Map	Buy Maps Online
Permits:	Northwest Forest Pass is required

Driving Directions:

From Seattle take I-90 East to Exit 52. Take left at the Stop onto Alpental Road. Turn right in 0.1 mile and go to Pacific Crest Trail trailhead. The trailhead is in 0.1 mile, the one to the right is for hikers, the one to the left is for horsemen.

Trailhead:

PCT: big parking, water is at the creek about 0.1 mile up the trail, toilet available.

Trail:

August 20, 2000 Came down with a touch of the flu Thursday morning. Come Friday night then Saturday morning I was still feeling very much ill, so my weekend plans to Chetwoot and backup plan to Joe, Edds, and Alaska were put on hold. Yet, Sunday was a new day, and I was feeling up for a little romp...something along a trail, yes; the PCT sounded like a great way to stretch the achy muscles. Slept in a bit just to make sure the legs were feeling up to the trek, but finally made it to the trailhead at 10 AM. Great hiking weather; overcast skies with a temperature somewhere in the low 50's at best. Started slowly up the trail letting my muscles get into their usual groove. Things started off nice and flat, but after 5 minutes or so began to climb up long and gentle switchbacks, just what I needed to warm up. Pressed on through dense forest and a bit of open talus until I reached the junction with the Commonwealth Basin Trail, elevation 3900'. From here it was a brushy and sometimes forested traverse to the next corner at 4150'. More of the same (including a small patch of clearcut) brought me to the corner at 4700'. To this point the trail is quite nice, wide, with an easy grade and not a single blowdown to be seen. Up through more tall trees and increasing fog I went until I arrived at the rock gardens at roughly 5000'. Here, just a 100 yards up the trail, I noticed the familiar gate of Professor Sparky. Caught him a few minutes later, stopped and chatted for a minute, then continued on past the Katwalk and on to the cliffs above the headwaters of Silver Creek; good lord, what a drop! Pushed on along the last stretch of trail before the first two lakes, finally arriving at quiet Ridge Lake at 12:45 PM. Skipped over to Gravel Lake where I stopped for a break and a view of the next leg of the trip, up and over the steep ridge to the NE of Gravel . Around 1:15 I started down toward the lake, down and around a cliff wall then up a scree slope looking to attain the ridge crest 550' above. Very, very steep slopes here lined with grasses in the better sections and berries and an assortment of flowers in the nastier parts. Gained 200' pretty easily on scree and ankle high grass, then cliffs forced me to traverse to the left through thick brush. The most difficult part of the day; the wet stuff made the high angle slopes a real challenge, and having a curious group of people watching my every move from lake below didn't make things any easier. Traversed for 150 yards, poked through a stand of trees where I found more open slopes extending to the top of the ridge 300' above. Made my way up with moderate difficulty finally attaining the rocky ridge crest at 5750'. Not necessarily the easiest way to Edds, but a fun variation nonetheless. Punched through between two spires, looked side to side then down into the basin below. Unfortunately, I had come up just above a 40 ft vertical drop--100 ft to the left of the forest finger I was looking for. Retreated and dropped 30' then traversed my way to the right the 100 ft I needed. Pushed up and over the ridge, just where I needed to be, then rode the finger down a 100' to the spectacular basin below. Great views down into the Edds Lake basin, up to Thomson, out to Burnboot Valley, and the falls just out of Iceberg Lake...my word! Anyway, I trotted down the gentle talus slopes, rounded the grassy mound to the right then down the north side of the Edds inlet to about 5000'. Now things got a wee bit interesting as I descended through alpine timber and slippery inlet(s). Took my time picking the best route down, finally deciding the east side of the inlet was optimal. Dipped down to about 4600' where I crossed over to the west side of the creek then traversed to the NE in meadowland coming to the lake on its SW side. Got stuck here along the tops of cliffs about 50' above lake elevation. I had to backtrack a bit then head down to the inlet which I rode to the lake, elevation 4298'--1.5 hours from Gravel Lake. A truly spectacular lake, Edds sits in a deep gorge of sorts--brutally steep slopes and cliffs rise up from either side only relenting near the inlet and outlet streams. Travel around the lake is difficult at best, from the inlet it's impossible to traverse around the east side of the lake, one must travel around the west side, but even here walking is difficult. I had to fight off brush while trying to balance along the rock shore, all the while trying not to fall in. A very photogenic lake, I spent a good 3.5 hours taking pictures and wandering the shores marveling at the beauty of the surrounding landscape. Alas, around 6 PM I felt I'd better get rollin and began the long hump back to the truck. Made great time out of the lake basin exiting via a different route; in the process saving myself about an hour of ups and downs, whew! The chilly evening stroll along the PCT was one of the most memorable stretches of trail I've done in awhile. The dense cloud cover that had greeted me on my trip in had now lifted a bit and the views to the east were truly remarkable. The skies to the east were clearing and the faint colors of orange and yellow reflecting off Stuart, Alta and the like were spectacular. Being Sunday, all was quiet and I had the trail all to myself, great lonesome hiking! Soaking up as much of the experience as I could I slowly meandered down the trail for a few hours finally arriving at the dark parking lot at 9:45 PM. The weather, the views, the stupendous basin wandering, the great lake, the lonesome trip out---everything appeared perfect this day, by far the best outing of the year! Contributed by Randy Busch

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