Page 1: To Melakwa Lake

Setting up camp at Melakwa Lake.

Saturday, September 1, 1984
Day one, Melakwa Lake. 9:15 PM
40°

We made 9 miles today – slow because the lack of sleep and a heavy pack.  I got off work this morning and just packed up my stuff and the dogs, and hopped in the van with C&G.  We hit The Doghouse restaurant south of Lake Union for breakfast, then drove up to the trailhead.

Once again, C&G are escorting me in so I can indulge in another one of my annual fall follies. Mica and Micki are with me, sporting their stylish doggie packs.  They look better than I do, but beauty is just in the eye of the beholder.  This is going to be a two-week trip, from just west of Snoqualmie Pass to just west of Blewitt Pass.  I’ve pieced together trails, old fire trails, and a bit of cross country travel for the route.  Around 100-miles, with 20,000’ of elevation gain and 17,000’ of elevation lost.  It ought to be a bit of an adventure, but hopefully not too challenging!

It was raining hard this morning as we started in, but that soon changed to a steady gray drizzle. Our route started at the Pratt Lake trailhead, then wound past Pratt Lake to Melakwa Lake.  Eventually even the drizzle stopped and we hiked through dripping, wet foliage under gray skies to the lake. We got camp set up and at about 7:30 PM, the skies began to clear.

Lake Melakwa sunset

 I got five or six nice sunset photographs of the lake and am hoping they will turn out fairly well.  I’ve brought several rolls of film but there are lots of miles yet to go, so I’m not going too crazy on sunset shots.  Not yet.

Melakwa Lake is everything I expected it to be – beautiful and striking in an Alpine sort of way.  You’ve got your mountain lake, high peaks, avalanche talus, and a few stands of decorative, isolated fir.  Here’s what the guidebook said:

“The most spectacular alpine scenery of the Snoqualmie Pass vicinity, with snowfields and walls of Kaleetan, Chair and Bryant Peaks rising above the little lake, one shore in forest, the other in rocks and flowers.”

Lake Melakwa

Well, I don’t know that it’s THE most spectacular scenery, but it’s pretty good!

It’s only the first night, and I'm already revising my itinerary by deciding to spend tomorrow here with C&G. I'll be alone for the next 13-days, so the company and suddenly good weather are worth adapting my schedule to accommodate. I can adjust by cutting my stay at Vicente Lake to one night instead of two.

– Keep reading.