Golden Lakes Loop

Wow, just returned from an amazing hike on the Golden Lake Loop in the Chelan Sawtooth Wilderness and was it ever beautiful. We hit it just right with the flowers all in full bloom, beautiful blue sky days and green lush meadows. This trip was a bit of a drive from Seattle (4.5 hrs) but totally worth it. We drove out Friday afternoon, had a yummy pizza dinner in Pateros and found a camp site along a creek a few miles before the trail head.

We hit the trail early Saturday and began our hike from the crater lake trail head. We came upon a junction with the crater lake trail not far into the hike and stayed to the left to head up to the next junction where we took the martin creek trail up towards Cooney Lake. There was a trail race being hosted that day so we ran into a few runner aid stations dispersed throughout the back country. Some of these people were on a 50 mile run up and down the mountains! We were impressed.

We passed one group of motorcyclists along the way, but very few people. We decided to bypass the climb up to Martin Lake and continue to Cooney as our possible campsite. So far the trail was nice, but mostly just closed forest. Then we began to get above the trees and the area opened up to rocky peaks.

A small tarn on the way to Cooney Lake

Cooney Lake

We arrived that afternoon to Cooney Lake. We found some nice campsites, but the mosquitoes and large group of teenage boys persuaded us to continue onto Sunrise Lake where we hoped to find some peace and quiet. We knew the trail from Cooney Lake would involve a slight descent and then a climb over a ridge and across Merchant Basin. We had already hiked about 8 miles, but didn't mind adding another 2 miles to the day. And that is where we were wrong.

Some how we had a bit of a navigational error and instead of heading towards the ridge to Merchant Basin we dropped down to the Foggy Dew trail. We figured out our mistake, but it was too late. We were now 1200 ft below where we wanted to be and added an additional 5 miles to our hike. Tired and slightly grumpy we began the steep climb into Merchant Basin. Our spirits were quickly lifted though when we saw the beauty of the area. The flowers were out in full glory and the whole area looked like something out of a movie. Think sound of music. We made the final climb up to the lake and agreed we made the right choice.

Sunrise Lake

The view opposite of Sunrise Lake

The outlet of Sunrise

Glorious flower fields

The pink elephant flower- my favorite!

At sunrise we had the lake to ourselves and set up camp right near the outlet. Cooney Lake was beautiful, but this area was really special. Totally worth the 13 miles and 3600 ft of climbing. We slept well that night

The next day, Sunday, was one of the most beautiful days of hiking I've had in a while. We woke up leisurely and headed back into Merchant Basin. This time we were climbing up towards the ridge behind Cooney, where we meant to come in the day before. Again through the glorious flower fields we went with distant Marmots whistling at us along the way. We climbed up into the saddle that bordered the basin and Cooney Lake for breath taking views and a morning snack.

Sweeping views

Taking it all in

Rainier?

After enjoying our vantage point we continued up to the pass above Angel's Staircase. Again we took in more views and enjoyed some lunch.

Then I scrambled up what I believe is Cooney Peak at 8321 for more views.

Summit Register with soggy log

Looking down toward Cooney Lake

Looking toward old maid mountain

Sunrise Lake from the summit

On the pass just above Angels Stair case

Here on the pass we ran into one of the few people we saw on the trail--a mountain biker who was doing the same loop as us, but in one day. Again we were quite impressed. Then we began our decent down Angel's Staircase and into Sunset Basin.

Here the trail flattened out and we wandered through more flowery fields and clumps of trees. At the junction with the Boiling Lake Trail we ran into a friend Marmot. Really I should say, he ran into us. The critter came running straight towards us, until I lifted up my pole out of pure reaction and he darted back into the meadow. I think he's been fed at some point. He seemed a little too tame. Cute little guy though.

Not long after the junction we reached Boiling Lake. We were surprised to see so many people camping around its shores. It was shallow and buggy (although most of the loop was buggy too) and too crowded for our taste so we climbed up to horsehead pass.

Boiling Lake

Boiling Lake from horse head pass

Looking out toward Lower Eagle Lake from horse head pass

Again we took in the amazing views and began our descent down to Upper Eagle Lake where we were going to spend the night. Again the trails got a little confusing in this area, but we found the lake without too much difficulty. The lake was completely empty except for us. We found it strange that so many people were camped at Boiling Lake when we both thought Eagle Lake was much nicer.

Upper Eagle Lake

The campgrounds around the lake were quite lavish. It looked like someone had spent a lot of time playing builder with rocks and logs. Our site had a huge fire ring a table and chairs and some unknown rock cave.

Posh campsite

That night the winds began to pick up which cleared out the bugs. But the temperature dropped quite dramatically sending us to bed rather early.

Sunset over the lake

The next morning was an early cold start. We hiked the final six miles quickly arriving back at the car at 9 am, plenty of time for a second breakfast stop at Cinnamon Twisp. The drive back was also quite beautiful. We took a quick leg stretching walk at the Washington Pass Overlook and felt very lucky to call this beautiful area our home.

Our Route