Kendall Peak Lakes - 03/13/2021

sarovchandran
Mar 15, 2021
3 min read

Highly recommend this route as a snowshoe hike with the family. Reach early to avoid crowds and reduce avalanche danger. and avoid heading to 3rd lake if the conditions are not right. Have fun and happy hiking!

Views: Priceless; several mountain views including Mt. Rainier, Rampart Ridge, Kendall Peak, Granite Mountain, Silver Peak, Snoqualmie ski resort and ski lifts, and of course the Kendall peak lakes.

Area: Snoqualmie region

Trailhead: Take exit 54 off I-90 and turn left towards the Gold Creek Sno-Park. Park and head straight up Forest Service Road 9090.

Pass: Sno-park permit (December to March) The entire road is sno-park, so you need a sno-park permit.

Stats: 9.0 miles, roundtrip; Elevation Gain: 1700 ft. Highest Point: 4400 ft.

Journey:

We arrive at the Gold Creek Sno-Park at 7 am, one hour later than our original plan. several feet of snow right from the parking lot. A lot of people with skis in the parking lot but not many came our way. We hit the trail that is a very gentle walk and good boot tracks to follow without the need for snowshoes. The trail got icier as we kept walking and chose to wear our microspikes. We took few water breaks and saw few hikers with snowshoes hike past us. The views of the mountains were amazing. After about 3 miles the incline of terrain was steeper and more exposed than lower down. There is potential avalanche danger. Since we were there early, and the slopes have not yet warmed up, we felt okay but we quickly passed the next half mile till we came to a nice open flat. It was so open we felt that we could play a game of cricket there :). We took a left and arrived at the end of the trail. From here we took a left down the gentle slope towards the first lake. There were several places one could go off the path and reached the first lake. We choose not to go off the path, the steep climbs to accommodate for a friend who was hiking with us and is recovering from a knee issue.

The lake was frozen solid, and a ton of snow and you won’t be able to tell you are crossing the lake. We crossed over the first lake and then a gentle climb up a short hill took us to the shores of the second lake. The second lake is frozen solid as well. Three pairs of hikers were sitting at the edge of the frozen lake and having their snack/breakfast. We walked over the frozen second lake and the hill climbed more steeply. We decided not to go to the third lake because of the steep climb and more importantly, the hill face was warming up with the sun hitting the slope and presented a clear danger. So we crossed back to the second lake and had our breakfast. Surprisingly, there were no birds fighting for our food. After spending 20 minutes, we traversed back the trail and our return journey to the trailhead took us 90 minutes. We encountered several people heading up now. Overall a great hiking day with beautiful views!

Trail description:

· At about 0.8 miles from the parking lot, the road turns sharply to the left.

· Follow the trail as it turns back on itself sharply to the right at about 1.3 miles from the parking lot.

· At about 1.6 miles from the parking lot, arrive at the base of a series of switchbacks.

· About three miles from the parking lot the road turns sharply right.

· Following the road, you will reach an open flat area in about 0.3 miles.

· Take a left and at about 3.8 miles from the parking lot, the road turns right

· Head off the road and go north, traversing across mostly open slopes for 0.2 miles, where you arrive at the first of the three lakes.