Pinnacle & Bathtub Lakes - July 28, 2013

After celebrating Derrick's B-day on Friday and having a lazy Saturday it was time to head back to the mountains. Today's destination; bathtub lakes.

This basin of lakes has been on my radar for a while and fit the bill for a nice day hike. We headed up fairly early to the Mountain Loop Highway and set out on the trailhead for Pinnacle Lake. About six years ago their had been a tragic double homicide on this trail, which weighed heavy on my mind and gave this area a slightly melancholy feeling. It was a nice little trail however.

We made it to Pinnacle relatively quickly and enjoyed the views at this pretty little lake. We didn't linger too long. Instead we headed up Iodine Gulch for our destination. The climb up the gulch was pretty straight forward, first along the creek, then up a steep meadow section. There was a little snow lingering in the top of the gulch and some more at the pass, but didn't require an ax. We met a group of three on our way up but the basin was mostly empty.

Pinnacle Lake

Heading up the gulch

 As soon as we crested the saddle our slightly cloudy day turned into a weird world of fog. We decided it reminded us a little of the Dead Marshes in Lord of the Rings (although less creepy). The area was quite nice although it really felt like we had been transported to a totally different landscape from the lake we were just at. We explored the 16 or so little lakes making a little loop out of it. We originally were planning to summit Pilchuck but decided to pass based on the fog. Views did role in and out through out the afternoon, but I'd love to visit again on a nice warm sunny day. We were surprised by the amount of snow that still lingered this late into July. The hike down was uneventful and the sun returned as soon as we left the basin.