Day 151, 20 September: Entering Alpine Lakes Wilderness

The landscape around me had dramatically changed since leaving Snoqualmie. I climbed steeply up the side of Kendall Peak, then crossed the Kendall Katwalk and traversed Collar Mountain to Ridge Lake for lunch. After lunch, I walked around high above Alaska Lake and crossed over a ridge near the top of Alaska Mountain. The trail straddled between Joe Lake and Edds Lake before traversing the side of Huckleberry Mountain and then Chikamin Peak. All day, I was looking down 1000 ft drops over huge valleys dominated by rugged peaks. I covered 13.9 miles, 22.4 km today, with 7703 ft, 2353 m of elevation change

Red Mountain, west of the start of Kendall Katwalk, Snoqualmie Mountain behind

I woke up this morning just before dawn, packed up my cowboy camp and had breakfast before all the day hikers reached my spot. It was a beautiful Saturday morning so the trail was busy with others out to enjoy a weekend in the mountains. As soon as I started walking, I saw just why the trail was so busy. Guye Peak, Cave Ridge, Snoqualmie Mountain, Lundin Peak, and Red Mountain formed a huge amphitheatre around me. I climbed the side of Kendall Peak for several hours and had the chance to see the other peaks from several angles.

Cave Ridge, Snoqualmie Mountain and Lundin Peak

Near the top of the climb, Pretzel caught up with me and we walked together over Kendall Katwalk to Ridge Lake. Pretzel stopped for a long lunch but I kept moving after filling water and a quick snack.

Looking back down trail on Kendall Katwalk, which was blasted out of the granite in 1975

The views beyond Ridge Lake became even more stunning. I could see lakes deep in the valley from the trail as I traversed high above. We weren’t at high elevation, but the valleys were cut so deep the whole landscape felt spectacular.

Looking down Gold Creek, Mt Rainier just visible above the smoke haze

I traversed below several more peaks and crossed more ridges. At every turn, a new vista would unfold ahead. Along one traverse under Chikamin Peak, Pretzel caught up with me again. We were both surprised how much elevation gain we were getting here, and how quickly we tired.

Looking over Joe Lake from Alaska Mountain to Huckleberry Mountain. If you look carefully, you can see the trail on the other side

From Chikamin Peak, looking back towards Joe Lake and Alaska Mountain. The trail crosses near the top of the ridge on the left

The oldest looking marmot I’ve ever seen

The trail took us to a pond above Spectacle Lake, with rain in the forecast, we searched for well draining campsites on sandy ground. We found a good spot on the far side of the pond and set up our tents, ready to hunker down if needed.