VTrail

Trail:

April 10, 2004
This saturday was a warm (70+), sunny day perfect for a hike. The lower part of the trail is dry and solid. There are a couple blow down trees, but easily managed without going off trail. The upper half of the trail is increasingly wet to rather muddy. I hiked later in the day and there had been a number of people on the trail so that made the mud worse. At the point where the trail crests about a 1/4 mile or so from the lake I started seeing snow on the ground. At first it was a few drifts but soon turned into a solid 3-5 ft. thick snow pack. As I neared the narrow chute that is formed by the lake's exit stream (the last 1/10 of a mile or so) I heard the first of 2 avalanches nearby. I couldn't see them but I assume they were on the rock walls surrounding the lake. I turned back before getting to the lake. As the lake is nestled on the North side of Mt. Pilchuk it doesn't get much of any direct sunlight and there is a lot of snow still left up there. Please be careful!

Submitted by: Dirk Visser