Beautiful, Gorgeous, Wish You Were Here

The weather last weekend was gorgeous, and since the winter is quickly approaching I knew I shouldn't let the chance pass to get a nice long hike in while I still could.  The destination:  Reed Lakes up Hatcher Pass.  After reading about the hike and seeing some pictures, I figured this one wouldn't disappoint - and it definitely didn't.

I started out early in crisp clear 33 degree weather.  The trail began easy, a nice wide mostly flat path to an abandoned mining camp.  From there it started climbing with muddy switch backs.  Eventually the trail turned a corner and after taking a break to check out the nearby waterfalls, I was faced with a large boulder field.

Normally boulder fields are one of my favorite parts of hikes, but this was a different story. You could hear water rushing under the boulders (which were all mostly large) and often you'd find yourself in a place where it was impossible to keep going forward the same way.  It was like a choose your own adventure book...and I kept choosing wrong.  To make it a bit more difficult, the boulders had lots of moss growing on them which made them slick and I slipped often.  There were a lot of moments when I stopped and realized I could've easily broken my leg.  Eventually I made it up, and realized that there was a trail on the other side of the field that had bypassed the worst part of it.  Hindsight and all that...

There were some beautiful views from here, and I spent a good amount of time soaking it in.  Hiking a little bit further, I saw some backpackers on the other side of the creek (first hikers I had seen) and realized I was on the wrong side.  So, I backtracked enough to find a place I thought I could cross without getting wet (mostly successful) and started back on the real trail.

This was the kind of trail where the views just get more beautiful with each step you take.  Stopping often to admire the scenery and take pictures, I made it to the lower lake.  The colors here were amazing - blue sky, green vegetation, turquoise water, and the grays of the rocks.  I enjoyed the area for a little while then decided to head back down since I was a bit worried about being in the sun for so many hours having forgotten sunscreen.

On the way back down, I took the trail that bypassed the worst of the boulders, and realized that I only had to cross the boulder field, not climb up it (where are cairns when you need them?).  It was much easier this time of day since everything had dried out by this point.  The trail to this point was still a little strange - there were points where it would run straight into a large boulder with no clear way around.  By the time you got to the end of the boulder, you'd realize the trail picked up again 10 feet below you with no easy way down.  So, there was plenty of backtracking going on.  The trail really wasn't that difficult, I think I just had an off day as far as choosing the right route.

There were quite a few hikers on there way up as I hiked down, being the perfect day for it.  By the time I got back to the car, it was a pleasant 59 degrees.  The drive back down Hatcher pass was scenic as well, with the afternoon sun shining on all the turning birch trees.

I definitely plan on doing this hike again, the next time going a bit further up and seeing the B-29 bomber wreckage on the bomber glacier.  It would be very worthwhile to camp a night up at the lakes as well.

More Pictures.  Frustratingly, I somehow lost the last 30 pictures I took on the hike (including some I was really excited about).  However, I took a couple on my phone as well, so I've included those in the album.