Thunder mountain lakes (9/15 - 9//16/2012)

Susan and me did a two day hike to Thunder Mountain Lakes with the intention of just spending a very relaxing wekend in the mountains.

Day 1 - Hiking in to the lakes

We wanted to set a good precedent for the trip by making it a slow and relaxing morning even at home. So we made sure we got a good night sleep the day before, slept in until after dawn, and had steel cut oatmeal for breakfast at home. And coffee. For the trip we were going to need something to read - and our upcoming vacation plan to Spain gave us the perfect opportunity to bring a guide book. Only problem was that we didn't own one yet, so we ended up waiting for the doors to open at Barnes and Noble in Northgate (9am), got our book, and were then on our way to the next stop - the Sultan Bakery for a second breakfast. However, this time we did not have a sit down breakfast but just a powder donut (Susan) and an apple cup (Peter). Tasty.

Were ended up at 11am by the Tunnel Creek Trailhead - this is the "hairpin" just before Stevens Pass - and we hiked up the first 1.5 miles through the forest to Hope Lake .

Hope Lake, the first of three lakes on our hike.

After Hope Lake, the PCT took us south 4 miles towards Trap Lake and Trap Pass, past many blueberry and huckleberry bushes. Being the PCT we also saw a steady stream of PCT (I.e. the Pacific Crest Trail from Mexico to Canada) hikers coming the other direction. Their collective appearance can be described as, wearing sneakers, with a small lightweight backpack, PET water bottle stuck in a mesh pocket on the outside of the pack, somewhat fragrant, but mostly just happy.
Many berries later we found ourselves above Trap Lake, and soon at Trap pass where with rested with a lunch of tortillas, ham and cheese. Delicious.

From the pass, a boot path leads towards Thunder mountain lakes more or less along the ridge. It takes you through some forest and scrub cedar initially, but soon opens up in beautiful granite slab and heather terrain for the next mile towards the lakes. It seemed a bit longer than we expected, but the hiking was so pleasant.

View of Trap Lake from the trail.	Susan hiking along the heather up towards Thunder Mountain lakes.
View of Slippery Slab tower along the way.	Thunder Mountain Lake. Camping at this one.

Once at the lake, we quickly created and prioritized our todo list.

1. Dip in lake. (Cold but refreshing.)
2. Nap at comfortable, scenic and windless location. (We found a natural cut in the rock, by the lake outlet which fulfilled all criteria. )
3. Read. (Lonely Planet Spain and latest issue of National Geographic.)
4. Dine when hungry. (Turned out to be sunset and ramen)
5. Sleep. (Post sunset to post sunrise.)

Susan taking some pictures from our nap/dinner/sleep spot	So blue and inviting.
Coffee, book and sunset, with the sleeping bag over us.	Watching the sunset. Mount Stuart and The Cradle lit up.

From our nap/dinner/sleep spot we could see the smoke plume from one of many forest fires burning on the east sides of the mountains.

Forest fire by Cashmere mountain

Day 2 - Another lazy day

Sunrise turned out to be very hazy due to the wind changing from westerly to easterly and the smoke from the Cashmere fire obscuring most of the view. Mount Stuart which we could see clearly the day before was only the very faintest of a shadow on the horizon.
However, the priorities for the day were clear, although not as clearly prioritized as the previous day:

1. Have coffee
2. Enjoy sunrise
3. Read
4. Dip
5. Eat

Waking up and having coffee with a nice sunrise, though a bit hazy.	Reading by the lake in the morning.
Time for a dip.	Playing on the local rocks.

We stayed at the lake until noon and then hiked back with a few stops along the way for enjoying the berry-ing and lunching by the Hope Lake. 

Ptarmigan along the trail

What a relaxing trip!