Linked up with Patrick around 6:30 Saturday morning at the Eastgate park-and-ride. Classic Seattle start, overcast. We stopped to recharge the car for about 20 minutes, then took a Blewett Pass up to Leavenworth. It was overcast there too, so we were already kind of chalking the weekend up as more of a training run to dial in our winter backpacking setup than anything else.
We were lucky there wasn’t much snow or ice on the road heading to the Bridge Creek trailhead. There wasn’t too much snow, so the Tesla with performance wheels made it through fine, and it didn’t end up snowing much overnight or the next day, which was key for getting out. Still, something to keep in mind for next time.
We started hiking around 10:30. Reached Colchuck Lake around 2:00, then made it to Lake Stuart around 4:00–4:30. From there, we climbed about 50–100 feet above the middle campsites, carved out a couple of ledges, and set up camp. Originally we’d planned to push to Horseshoe Lake, which would’ve been about 11 miles from Bridge Creek, but Lake Stuart is closer to 7.5 miles. Any farther and we’d have been hiking in the dark, and honestly it would’ve been too much for snowshoes after a long day. It’d be interesting to check out Horseshoe another time, maybe even a through-hike from Bridge Creek to the Eightmile Lake trailhead, assuming that road is accessible in summer. That would be a great trip.
Camp was mostly set up by around 5:30–6:30. We had a creek running just above us, which made getting fresh water super easy, always a win. Around 5:30 the sun set, and the alpenglow on the Enchantments was unreal. Mount Stuart was partially shrouded in clouds, but the summit was still visible and looked epic.
Dinner was solid: couscous and mussels, a packet of olive oil, some apricots, and later salted caramel chocolate. Simple and very satisfying. We were in bed by around 10. It was a blustery night, windy enough that I wouldn’t have wanted to be any higher up the hill. We were positioned well with decent coverage, but the tent was still moving around. I’d forgotten my earplugs, so sleep wasn’t amazing. Still, it was a beautiful night: full moon, tons of illumination, no headlamp needed.
Gear-wise, the setup worked really well. Down pants and puffer jacket kept me comfortable. I brought waterproof socks to wear inside my boots, so my boots stayed dry and I didn’t even need booties. I also slept in cotton long johns and a cotton undershirt, which was great. Makes me wonder if next time I could bring my 32° sleeping bag and just plan to sleep in the puffer pants, or maybe even skip the puffer pants and just use long johns under my normal pants. Definitely thinking about how to get away with a smaller sleeping bag.
We woke up around 9:30. Neither of us slept particularly well, but it was fine. It started raining pretty hard around 9:00, so we packed up quickly. My hands got really cold breaking down camp. I’d brought REI waterproof work gloves, but my hands always seem to get cold in those, might be better to use liner gloves with shell mitts instead.
We were back on the trail by about 9:30, maybe a bit earlier. The hike down was good, lots of snacks and solid conversation. Reached Colchuck around 11:00–11:30, and got back to the Bridge Creek trailhead around 2:30. About 4.5 hours to descend 9.5 miles, roughly 30 minutes per mile. Going up had taken closer to six hours.
This route would not have been good skiing at all. Coverage was marginal, with lots of fallen trees and technical mixed snowshoeing, rocks, active streams, and constant trail navigation. Still, a great snowshoe hike and one I’d definitely do again. Next time, leaving earlier and giving ourselves more time to climb higher above Lake Stuart for better views would be ideal. In winter you can do that; in summer you’re basically locked into the designated campsites.
After getting off the trail, we headed to München Haus in downtown Leavenworth and crushed some bratwurst. I wish I’d charged the car while we were eating, but we only ended up needing about 20 minutes anyway. During that charge, I got some really good news, which was a great way to cap the trip.
Overall, a very fun weekend. Already looking forward to the next one.
We were lucky there wasn’t much snow or ice on the road heading to the Bridge Creek trailhead. There wasn’t too much snow, so the Tesla with performance wheels made it through fine, and it didn’t end up snowing much overnight or the next day, which was key for getting out. Still, something to keep in mind for next time.
We started hiking around 10:30. Reached Colchuck Lake around 2:00, then made it to Lake Stuart around 4:00–4:30. From there, we climbed about 50–100 feet above the middle campsites, carved out a couple of ledges, and set up camp. Originally we’d planned to push to Horseshoe Lake, which would’ve been about 11 miles from Bridge Creek, but Lake Stuart is closer to 7.5 miles. Any farther and we’d have been hiking in the dark, and honestly it would’ve been too much for snowshoes after a long day. It’d be interesting to check out Horseshoe another time, maybe even a through-hike from Bridge Creek to the Eightmile Lake trailhead, assuming that road is accessible in summer. That would be a great trip.
Camp was mostly set up by around 5:30–6:30. We had a creek running just above us, which made getting fresh water super easy, always a win. Around 5:30 the sun set, and the alpenglow on the Enchantments was unreal. Mount Stuart was partially shrouded in clouds, but the summit was still visible and looked epic.
Dinner was solid: couscous and mussels, a packet of olive oil, some apricots, and later salted caramel chocolate. Simple and very satisfying. We were in bed by around 10. It was a blustery night, windy enough that I wouldn’t have wanted to be any higher up the hill. We were positioned well with decent coverage, but the tent was still moving around. I’d forgotten my earplugs, so sleep wasn’t amazing. Still, it was a beautiful night: full moon, tons of illumination, no headlamp needed.
Gear-wise, the setup worked really well. Down pants and puffer jacket kept me comfortable. I brought waterproof socks to wear inside my boots, so my boots stayed dry and I didn’t even need booties. I also slept in cotton long johns and a cotton undershirt, which was great. Makes me wonder if next time I could bring my 32° sleeping bag and just plan to sleep in the puffer pants, or maybe even skip the puffer pants and just use long johns under my normal pants. Definitely thinking about how to get away with a smaller sleeping bag.
We woke up around 9:30. Neither of us slept particularly well, but it was fine. It started raining pretty hard around 9:00, so we packed up quickly. My hands got really cold breaking down camp. I’d brought REI waterproof work gloves, but my hands always seem to get cold in those, might be better to use liner gloves with shell mitts instead.
We were back on the trail by about 9:30, maybe a bit earlier. The hike down was good, lots of snacks and solid conversation. Reached Colchuck around 11:00–11:30, and got back to the Bridge Creek trailhead around 2:30. About 4.5 hours to descend 9.5 miles, roughly 30 minutes per mile. Going up had taken closer to six hours.
This route would not have been good skiing at all. Coverage was marginal, with lots of fallen trees and technical mixed snowshoeing, rocks, active streams, and constant trail navigation. Still, a great snowshoe hike and one I’d definitely do again. Next time, leaving earlier and giving ourselves more time to climb higher above Lake Stuart for better views would be ideal. In winter you can do that; in summer you’re basically locked into the designated campsites.
After getting off the trail, we headed to München Haus in downtown Leavenworth and crushed some bratwurst. I wish I’d charged the car while we were eating, but we only ended up needing about 20 minutes anyway. During that charge, I got some really good news, which was a great way to cap the trip.
Overall, a very fun weekend. Already looking forward to the next one.
Leave a Reply