Backpacking Alaska Lake

  • Article

Dawn and I went backpacking this past weekend to Alaska Lake, up the Gold Creek Trail in the Alpine Lakes Wilderness Area of Washington.   It was a beautiful 6 mile hike, crossing three streams, and climbing 1200 feet in the last mile on an unmaintained old trail.  There were majestic waterfalls, boulders to climb over, deep old growth woods, and a completely private lake surrounded by mountains at the end.  It was just serene.  Here are some pics…

See All the Photos
https://www.flickr.com/photos/noahcoad/sets/72157600606694598/show/

Heading out on the trail from Gold Creek Pond

The trail was beautiful!

We arrived at Alaska Lake, nestled in the mountains

The next morning Dawn is putting up the tent

Alaska Lake with a perfect reflection in the morning

Nice waterfall

A Thistle Flower

Dawn is catching her balance while crossing Gold Creek

And the trail heading at the end, yes, we went
well into the "not maintained" part of the trail. :)

(see all the photos)

Alpine Lakes Wilderness
I will say that if you're looking for a place to go backpacking in the area, I'd recommend anywhere in the Alpine Lakes Wilderness area.  It's is majestic and very easy to get to (between I90 and HW2).  Get yourself this map from REI, it's a really good map.  Beyond Mount Si describes many of the trails and gives good useful details.  This particular hike to Alska Lake was very easy at first, but is rated as Difficult (4 of 5 by the book) due to the incredible (but fun!) steep 1 mile hike at the end, 1200 feet gain in one mile.  For an easier intro into the Alpine Lakes, check out Copper Lake (West Fork Foss Lakes trail), Snow Lake, or another favorite, Heather Lake.  The whole area is filled with secluded mountain rimmed lakes. 

Hike to Alaska Lake
If you are interested in hiking this specific trail, here’s the info.  For starters, this is an odd trail in that the first part is about 4 miles of relatively flat hiking along Gold Creek, with the need to ford the creek twice (yes, get wet walking through it).  Then there is a very easy to miss turn off to Alaska Lake and one mile of almost straight up (1100 ft in one mile) of an unmaintained trail of boulders.  There are plenty of easier trails (mentioned above), but if you are looking for something more unique and private within a 5 mile hike, this is it.

Enjoy!