Page 2: Melakwa Lake

Iceberg Lake from Melakwa Pass. Glacier Peak in the distance.

Sunday, September 2, 1984
Day Two, Melakwa Lake. 9 PM
50°

Chris and I went on a day-hike today to Gem Lake and scouted out my route for tomorrow. On the north side of Melakwa Pass, C was doing the butt-scoot down the snowfield.  I plead guilty to being a little bit snarkey-amused and took a photo.  The key on negotiating steep snow slopes is to stay upright and center your hips over your feet.  Once you lose that alignment, you run the risk of losing control.

I can already tell that it's going to be totally tiring with a full pack tomorrow. Between the cross-country traverse to Gem Lake and all the miles afterwards, it is going to be a looong day.  If I leave here at 10 AM and make good time, I should be rolling into camp tomorrow night around 5 PM.  And that’s if everything goes perfectly, with no unexpected hitches. 

But, we were enjoying the moment, and it was a glorious day! We stopped at Iceberg Lake and took photos.  The view down to Snow Lake from here is really special.  We pressed on and met two groups just short of Gem Lake. They were out day-hiking. They were camped at Gem and had been visiting other local lakes but hadn’t been adventuresome enough to make the traverse up to Melakwa Pass.

C. on Iceberg Lake bench, looking down at Snow Lake.

We took more photos and then headed back to camp.  It was a lot easier going up that steep snowfield than it had been coming down.  C had no problems and we were back in time to join G for snacks before dinner.

G  said that a lot of day-hikers came into Melakwa Lake today and several of them seem to have made the pilgrimage up to Melakwa Pass.  They would have had a stunning view of Iceberg Lake, Gem Lake, and Glacier Peak. But they would have missed Snow Lake and Upper Wildcat, as well as Leamah Peak and Three Queens.

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