Gem Lake Alpine Lakes

Hike Name: Gem Lake Alpine Lakes Location: central WA Length: 11 Submitted by: Eric Date Submitted: 0/0/00 Rating:	more Washington trail reviews Washington national parks Washington state parks
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Description
This hike is 11 miles round trip. Currently the trail condition is very good. There are several very rough rock sections of trail. Scree and large rocks to hike over. Tough up hill climbs to both Snow Lake and Gem Lake. The water at both lakes is a deep blue and turquoise. Very beautiful. I saw baby Marmots at Gem Lake and a Blue Herring (hope I spelled it right). There are many Huckleberry bushes around Snow Lake and they taste OH SO good! They look like Blueberries for the uninitiated. The entire hike is cool due to the lakes being at 4,000 and over 5,000 at Gem Lake. Very few mosquitos. Great hike. Very hard on the body but worth the photos. Camping is allowed there with a permit. Great spots along Snow Lake and Gem Lake to camp. I HIGHLY recommend you take Trekking poles on this hike. They will help you get up theh steep switchbacks and will also save your knees on the way down.

Directions to Hike
If your coming from the Seattle are drive East along I-90 to Alpental Ski area Exit #52. At end of ramp turn left. Drive for about 300 feet. Turn right. There is a small blackish sign there. Stay on this road and follow it to your left. Eventually you will see a big parking lot on your left. Stop there and park. The trailhead sign is only 100 to 150 feet from there.

Contact Information
Simply do a search on the web for either Snow Lake or Gem Lake Alpine Lakes Wilderness WA. Plenty of links.

Enjoy!

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