Ranking: 4/5 A day hike that could be a weekend trip, for the sheer amount of exploring that exists, this is a beautiful, large alpine lake that is easily reached in a day. Wander the shoreline for spectacular views of the lake and surrounding peaks, and scramble up on the Columbia Glacier for a day hike, or stay on the lake shore as a base camp to climb the massive peaks that surround the lake.
Difficulty:6/10 It’s true, that its a good uphill climb, with over 3200ft to reach Columbia Glacier, but the trail is well marked, and quite busy on weekends, and with a day pack on, it’s not nearly as brutal as most overnighters. Also, to get to the glacier, you will have to travel off trail, so some scrambling is required around the edges of the lake. there is a faint trail that gets you to the far reaches of the lake, and from that point, it’s a scramble uphill over loose rock and boulders to the glacier.. You will need to ford the outlet stream, so plan on getting your feet wet.
Getting there: Take I-405N towards Bellevue/Everett, and take exit 23 toward Woodinville/Wenatchee/US-2, and merge onto WA-522E in about .6 miles. Follow WA-522E for 13.4 miles to the junction with highway 2, and turn left onto US-2E/ Stevens Pass Highway, and follow US2-E for 35 miles. Just past the town of Skykomish, turn left on Beckler Rd, FSRD, 65, and stay on this road for 12.3 miles, until you come to a large roundabout, there are roads leading in different directions. Stay left here, to stay on FSRD 65 (it heads downhill). At 16.4 miles, turn left to the Blanca Lake Trailhead, trail #1052.
Maps: Use either Green Trails Map #143, Monte Cristo, or create your own detailed map using My Topo software, by going to a kiosk that prints out MyTopo, ( REI has one), or go online, to http://www.mytopo.com/, to order your own specific map.
Permits: You will need to self register at the trailhead, and to park, you will need a Northwest Forest pass, or equivalent permit.
Blanca Lake GPS Added 11/15/2012
Day 1
since this is another foray into the North Cascades, and it’s a long drive from here to the trailhead, we leave on the Friday before, to camp at a local campground, which enables us to get an early start. From past experience, we’ve learned to avoid the crowds by getting there ahead of them.
…good ol’ Money Creek Campground, home to the whistle blowing maniac’s that drive the trains right through camp. At all hours of the day and night…Ok, maybe not right through camp…
We’ve been to that part of the state before, so driving along highway 2, towards Stevens Pass, we make our first stop at good ol’ Money Creek Campground, home to the whistle blowing maniac’s that drive the trains right through camp. At all hours of the day and night…Ok, maybe not right through camp, but, trust me…If you’re camped on the side next to the rails, (the campground is divided into two parts), you’ll get the surprise of your life during the night…We don’t even bother looking for a site on that side of the road, only as a last resort would we stay there again…
As luck would have it, there was still one site left on the other side of the road, near the Skykomish River, and the rapids here, we hoped, would help to drown out the shrill whistle blasts from passing locomotives…It seemed to be doing a pretty good job with muffling conversations, anyway, as I noticed I had to raise my voice over the constant roar of rushing water to be heard. Securing our spot, and paying for the night, it’s not long before empty bellies start rumbling, and its’ not a secret that I’m driven by hunger.
“hey, want to go to Skykomish, and get some snacks?” After all, it’s only 3:00pm, and we’re not ready yet for dinner, so it doesn’t seem to be any harm to go into town to get a quick snack, to take the edge off…2 miles away is the small, historic town of Skykomish, still undergoing the massive reconstruction of moving entire buildings, cleansing the soil, and then replacing them, as there was soil contamination from the railroad dumping oil. A monumental task, to be sure, but it seems they’ve made some headway from last year.
Except that the Cascadia Inn, a great place to eat, is still undergoing renovation, so we won’t be eating there this year. At the beginning of town, is a small deli, that seems to specialize in alcohol. There’s plenty to drink here, but not much to eat, and we forage for a few small snack sized bags of chips, and a tube of Pringles potato chips. There really isn’t that much in the way of snacks here, but if you’ve got a hankering for some spirits, well…They’ve got that base covered, as the walls are racked with beer, and there’s a fully stocked liquor store at the back of the store.
Goodies in hand, we return to camp, mow through the chips in short order, and find that only seemed to heighten the feeling that my stomach was sure that my throat had been cut…I hung on for 45 desperate, long minutes, before announcing that I was sure I was going to starve, so we made the short trip back to Gold Bar. During our drive from home, as we passed through town, we noticed a place that looked as if it might be a good place to eat, so that’s where we were headed, the Gold Bar Restaurant and Lounge.
Inside, it was nice and clean, and looked recently remodeled. Their dinner special for Friday nights was Prime rib and mashed potatoes, and the prices were very reasonable. She served us both a plate of the dinner special, and it was definitely some good dead cow, with mashed potatoes and gravy (with the spuds indented like a little volcano, to hold all the gravy), and fresh tasting green beans. For dessert, there was pie and ice cream, and after putting all of this away, we rolled out of the fine establishment, holding our bellies, like the little piggies we were…
Still, we needed to stop at the store, to pick up breakfast for tomorrow, even though the thought of food right now caused some discomfort…Why had we eaten so much??? After parking, and heading for the store, we ran into some local color, and she seemed determined to apologize for the fact that her land yacht had taken up two stalls next to us. We assured her this was not a problem, and made our way, quickly, to the store, sharing puzzled and bewildered looks between ourselves…In the store, we located breakfast, (and another little snack, just in case the bloated stomach wore off, one can never be too prepared), and waited our turn at the check out line.
The transaction of cash for our meager supplies was not going as quickly as I had hoped, and turning to look the cashier in the face, I could see she was clearly enjoying this verbal exchange…
Since it was the check out line, a small voice next to Greg, having checked out his shirt, (Mt. Rainier Summit Climb emblazoned across the back), queried, with some amazement, I might add, “Did you climb Mt. Rainier?!” Silence. No response from Greg-O, so I leaned around to see where the voice came from, and here was a small woman, looking up at us…”Yep”, I replied, “We did”. To which she replied, “ I live in her shadow!” Oh, boy…Not wanting to be rude, I said, really? Where do you live? I found out it was Graham, so I told her we were practically neighbors, living in Puyallup, and all…The transaction of cash for our meager supplies was not going as quickly as I had hoped, and turning to look the cashier in the face, I could see she was clearly enjoying this verbal exchange…Grabbing my change, we left, but not before, “Are ya gonna climb Mt. Baker?” We were both glad to retreat to the safety of our campsite…
This is the abbreviated version, the rest has been removed to protect the innocent, and incredulous…We enjoyed a fire’s company before turning in, and the train was certain to remind us, during the night, why we opted for a site further from the rails…