Annette Lake Hike

This day was amazing. I felt like I experienced so much in 12 hours.

Alarm went off at 5:15 and it was dark, made me a little sad to lose our summer light. BUT the temperature was perfect at 58 degrees.
Met Rachael at 6 for a 1.5 mile run at 8:35 pace.

Left for Annette Lake Hike at 7:25am

The forest drapes the lower trail, keeping hikers cool on the hottest August afternoons. At trail's end, a deep lake waits to kill off the last of the summer heat--for those brave enough to dive into its icy waters. Between the thick second-growth forest stands and the high alpine lake, the trail rolls along Humpback Creek, offering tantalizing views now and again of pretty waterfalls along the tumbling creek.

At about 1 mile out, you'll pass under a high-tension powerline and 0.25 mile later will cross the wide track of the Iron Horse Trail (the old railroad right-of-way). From this point, the trail gets serious. Serious about scenery, and serious about climbing. The path switchbacks up the Humpback Creek valley for more than 1.5 miles until the last steep pitch puts you at about 3600 feet elevation. For the next mile, you'll traverse the slope above Humpback Creek, with occasional views across the valley to Humpback Mountain. The trail ends at the shores of Annette Lake, which lies in the cirque between Humpback Mountain, Abiel Peak, and Silver Peak.


First view point is this creek/waterfall coming off a hill and we crossed over the bridge. It was about this time, I realized I wore the wrong socks that wouldn't stay up and I forgot my hiking shoe in-soles. DAGNABITI love foot bridges, it makes for an interesting trail/walk. Alyssa's knee was driving her crazy, hurting and she wanted to turn back at 1.5 miles. She cried and was ready to go back alone to the truck. Instead, we went super slow and tried to keep her mind off it. She eventually forgot. This is a carved tree. More foot bridges

And more

and beautiful forestThis is one of our 'breaks' for Alyssa. She would have been mad if I would have taken a photo of her pouty face. This really is a boulder field, one of four and I am looking up at it. It really was this steep. A terrible avalanche hill in the winter, indeed. And we trudge across more boulder fields.

Getting close the lake, there was a toilet.

You know me and potties.. I have to capture the moment.. Troy waits on Alyssa while I snap the photos.

And we arrived!

We played ball with the dog and we read our books. I read over 300 pages today of The Last Song and am going to watch the movie tonight. What a great book. Troy explored the campsites for future backpacking trips.

Troy realized he needs to teach Alyssa how to throw better.

Doggy always loves to swim

Finally, a family photo.

The leaves were bigger than Alyssa's head.

As we were leaving, it began to rain and we were thrilled. We loved the sound and knew our lawn/garden needed it. AHHHHHHHHHH.

Alyssa asked us to kiss so she could document it! A masterpiece indeed.

We recommend this beautiful hike. The internet says 3.75 miles EACH WAY with 2300 gain. It took us over 2 hours to get there due to Alyssa's very very slow pace today. We can definately tell she is not in the same shape as she was in June.

Troy made us an amazing meal tonight that I will blog later. Now, off to watch our movie.