Derrick Lake

One day, during the cold dark months of winter I was perusing my Alpine Lakes Wilderness map dreaming of sunny summer backpacking trips, when I discovered it--Derrick Lake. It was an unassuming blue spot on the western edge of the map bearing the same name (and spelling) as my boy! At this discovery a dream of reaching the shores of this unknown lake was born.

Fast forward six months to a warm August weekend. After much research and map studying, Derrick and I decided to set out on our adventure to see this lake for ourselves. Now, this was no easy task. Derrick Lake is about 2 miles from the middle fork of the snoqualmie trail. However, those 2 miles involve some intense bushwhacking/route finding up some gnarly terrain. So here is where I give you a word of caution that this hike is not for the casual hiker. It involves very strenuous, at time dangerous, scrambling, crawling, creek jumping, and lots of route finding. In other words, if you are not an experienced off trail hiker with good navigational skills, please don't attempt this--you will only hurt yourself, or worse. And if for some reason you do decide to make this trek, please treat this area kindly and minimize your impact.

Ok with that said, here is the story of our adventure. We left Seattle Saturday after a brief stop to purchase our new epic rafts (think glorified pool toys) and hit the trail head somewhere around noon. The first mile was a relatively flat hike along the middle fork of the snoqualmie river to the Cripple Creek Bridge.

Bridge over cripple creek

Cripple Creek

Here at the bridge we found a boot path heading up the right side of the creek. The path was relatively easy to follow through the forest, despite some rather large blow downs that require some acrobatic skills. We were excited to try out our new rafts, but a little distraught by how much extra weight they added to our packs (these were not fancy light weight pack rafts).

An example of one of several multi-tree blow downs

After slogging along the boot path we eventually hit Tin Cup Joe Falls, a multi-layered waterfall that is very scenic, but a little difficult to get a view of. At this point it was time to cross the creek and begin the really adventurous section of our hike.

The lower section of Tin Cup Joe Falls

After hopping a few rocks we made it across the creek and were faced with a wall of dirt that had to be climbed using protruding roots to wedge our way up. Once above this obstacle we were a little unsure of where to go. In hind sight (we found a much better route on the way back down), we should have bared right and we would have connected with another slight boot path, but at the time we figured we needed to keep going up--so up we went. We were scrambling along to the right of a smaller trickle that enters Cripple Creek just below the falls. The going was extremely slow and filled with salmonberry and devils club. Eventually we hit a rock face that we weren't about to climb and began traversing towards the main section of the falls. Eventually we ended up right next to the upper section of the falls and discovered the boot path we should have been on the whole time.

This is NOT the way to go

The upper section of the falls

Now when I say boot path, don't go envisioning a nice big trail. Really it is just a faint trail of where people have walked in the past and it might not exist year round. But luckily for us we were able to follow this for most of the way. We even found a few pieces of flagging tape left by another hiker. This next section was one of the steepest of the hike and we were starting to regret our heavier-than-normal-packs. And when I say steep, I mean climbing-on-your-hands- and-knees-through-the-dirt-holding-onto-foliage-for-dear-life-steep.

One of the steep climbs (the photo makes it look much mellower than it was)

A nice view across the river valley

Now eventually the steep section did mellow out a bit and transform into what I like to call the "huckleberry fields of despair". Rarely, would I use the word "despair" in conjunction with "huckleberry", but the situation warranted it. Envision for a moment, thick huckleberry bushes taller than your head that you must force your way through as they slap you in the face and attempt to rip off your pack and clothes, while you trod uphill. The upside--many of the berries were ripe! And if I had to chose, I'd definitely pick huckleberries over devil's club and salmonberries.

At some point in the early evening, our boot path returned us to the creek. We then descended into the creek bed for our final challenge of the day--the creek climb. Now, this section would have probably been kind of fun had it not been for the heavy packs and fatigue (both physical and mental) that was setting in. It has been a relentless day, but we were determined to make it. The creek just below Little Derrick Lake descends through a narrow shoot of almost vertical rock walls leaving no real option, but to climb up through the creek. This section of the hike would be near impossible during high water, but luckily the creek was at a reasonable height leaving rocks exposed. However, it was still a tough slow climb, made more intense by the rushing water, constantly reminding you how bad a slip in this area could be.

Where we dropped down into the creek

The climb up the creek (again, this picture makes it look easier than real life)

Luckily, we made it without a slip up to the point where a few large drops make it impossible to stay in the creek and we had to climb up the hill side to the right. This was probably the sketchiest section of the day. Exhausted but feeling accomplished we arrived just before dark at Little Derrick Lake and shortly after to Derrick Lake. We were surprised to be greeted by a group of 3 camping on the left side of the lake. They congratulated us on making it up, directed us to a second campsite over to the right, and informed us that they were heading out first thing in the morning.

Little Derrick Lake

Looking out from Little Derrick

Derrick Lake was a beautiful place with large granite rock slabs allowing you to slowly wade out in the clear waters. The next day was a beautiful one. Despite the extra weight, we were glad to have our rafts and spent the day lounging out on the lake. We had considered exploring some of the upper lakes, but decided to spend a lazy day instead. It was a pretty perfect day.

Derrick Lake Panorama

Reflections

Moon over Derrick

Derrick on Derrick Lake

I think the raft will become a permanent addition to the gear

They also make nice camp chairs

The way down was less intense than the way up, but had some scary moments none-the-less. It took us about 6 hrs to descend and left us quite sore. We passed another group coming in as we were on the way down. Again, I would caution anyone who is considering the hike to only attempt it if you have experience route finding and the ability to climb very steep terrain.

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