06-08-24
Gary
was free for a Saturday hike.
At first we settled on Diablo Lake. The forecast high temperature grew
to the mid 80s or more and that was too much for me on a trip that is
out in the open quite a bit, We kicked around other ideas and I
suggested Thompson Lake. I first hiked to Thompson in 2013.
I had another visit in 2019.
I
told Gary and John about it many times. It was finally time for Gary to
hike there. The trip is mostly in forest and the temperature was
forecast to peak at 74F. That sounded good to me. After a lot of long
droves and very early meetings we decided to meed in Seattle
at
7:30 am. It is just under an hour drive to the trailhead. We did
reached the trailhead at 8:24 am. There were only three or four spots
left. I took one. The two cars right behind me took two more. 8:30 am
is not too late to be sure of a parking spot. At the end of the day we
found more cars parked in unofficial spots but they were not blocking
anyone. It was no surprise that the Mailbox Peak lot was full and we
saw folks walking the road from at least half a mile farther up the
road.
We were packed and on our way at 8:32 am. A big group started just after us. We set a pretty good pace to get ahead of them. I started with a short sleeve shirt and within half a mile I zipped off my pants legs. It was warming up fast. Right away I saw starflowers. Lots of them. That was it for the day. There were no more starflowers. Next were bleeding hearts. They are seen all along our trip. Many were nearly finished down low but there were some near peak higher up. This was not a great wildflower hike but we did see them off and on. We caught up with a few slower hikers and were passed by some faster ones. After reaching the old Granite Creek Road/Trail we neared the creek. It still has a lot of water in it. There are a couple places where we had good views of the creek. We stopped on the bridge over Granite Creek for some photos and videos. It was loud with the high level of water.
After the creek come the many places where culverts carried water under the old road. Now they are small stream crossings. There were flat rocks placed in the water on the wider crossings. I made it over all of them with dry feet and without taking out my poles. On the way down We did use poles. Thee were a lot more bleeding hearts, trillium, and yellow violets. Though the road was a clearcut years ago, now it was mostly in shade as the brush and trees have grown high. We reached the Granite Lakes/Thompson Lake junction at 10:09 am. We had hiked 3.3 miles so far. We had a lot more solitude after the junction. We did see a couple hikers coming down from Thompson Lake but far less of a crowd than on the route to Granite Lakes.
The old road heading to the Defiance Trail/Thompson Lake goes from 3070' to about 3950' gaining almost 900' in 1.1 miles. That is steep for an old road. The Defiance Trail is narrow and very steep in places. It is very narrow and steep on the descent from the ridge top to Thompson Lake. Trip reports mentioned snow just a few weeks ago. I hoped that the last of the snow would be gone how. It was. The trail leaves the old road and soon begins to descend with nice switchbacks. At the bottom it crosses a creek and begins a steady climb to the ridge top. We were passed by a hiker and her dog along here. The ridge top is at about 4250', the highest point of the trip. Thompson Lake is at 3654'. We lost that 600' in only .40 miles. That is a 1500' per mile pace. That climb on the way out would not be easy. The trail was dry and the footing was fine. We dropped to the edge of the big boulder field at the end of the lake and had views down to the lake. One of the islands had burned since my 2019 visit. There was no sign of any fire at the lake itself.
We went back into forest and continued to a junction. Left goes north along the lake towards the outlet. We went right to south end of the lake. The last bit was through the boulder field. We found the hiker with her dog on the shore and two others fishing farther along the shore. We sat down in between them for out lunch break. It was now 11:47 am. Right on time for lunch. Clouds had come in and the all blue sky when we started was now mostly cloudy. It was still quite warm with some direct sunshine. The hiker left first and then the two hikers who had been fishing. We had the lake to ourselves. Our break lasted until 12:32 pm. I could have spent another couple hours. We still had quite a way to hike back. We hiked back to the junction and took the path down the lake. It has a few logs that have fallen across it and a few creeks to cross. At the other end we left forest and had a good view back up the lake. We could see waterfalls coming down the boulder field at the south end. Crossing the outlet was possible on a bunch of half submerged logs but we had no desire to go across and back. We started back.
A short way back we saw a campsite above the trail. From there we could look down on the small lake/pond below the outlet. It had a lot of silver snags around the shore and on an island. We went back to the junction and prepared for the 600' climb. I took off a windshirt that protected me from the mosquitoes. There were just enough of them to be bothersome. I needed short sleeves for the climb. We passed a couple groups coming down as we ascended. The trail is just wide enough to let others pass by. It was a slow buy steady climb. By the time we reached the ridge top we were at 4000' of elevation gain. That is as much as Mailbox Peak and we were just on a hike to a lake and we still had some more elevation to gain. We dropped off the ridge, crossed the creek, and hiked back up to the start of the Defiance Trail. Now we just had that steep road descent back to the Granite Lakes Trail.
I had told Gary that on my 2019 trip I had seen a lot of saprophytes growing in the dark forest just off the old road. I looked but did not see any while coming down. We did see a huge one coming down. It was as tall as my hiking pole which is over four feet tall. We reached the Granite Lakes junction at 2:48 pm. Now we just had 3.3 miles of downhill. W still had 2200' of elevation to lose. As expected, we did see more people on this popular trail. Some folks were still heading up and more were now heading down. Even with overcast, the day was getting warmer. We took a break at the bridge over Granite Creek. That was about it for breaks. We hiked to Annette Lake on Thursday afternoon/evening and now we were doing the most gain of the year. It started to add up in the last few miles. The Annette and Thompson trips totaled 19 miles with 6100' of gain. That is a lot for us older guys. We left the old road and finished on the newer Granite Creek Connector Trail. It is much softer on the feet and plenty wide to pass other hikers. Just what we needed by this point.
We reached the parking lot at 4:30 pm. The lot had some open spots with some cars parked in unofficial spots as mentioned earlier. For the day we hiked just over 11.5 miles with 4200' of gain. I find it interesting that this trip near Mailbox Peak has more elevation gain to get to a lake. Speaking of lakes, I can't recall the last time we have done four consecutive hikes to lakes. The included two really rough trails, a great easy trail, and 4200' of gain. The overcast was appreciated. It was in the mid 70s when we finished but it could have been much warmer if the morning blue sky stayed longer. There was a nice if not overwhelming wildflower show. I have had plenty of those the past month. The short drive home was also great. Gary managed a first time hike to Thompson even though he had hiked much of the route before. Summer weather is just starting and I have had six consecutive excellent hikes, none of them in the Issaquah Alps. Bring on summer!
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Trips - 2024
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We were packed and on our way at 8:32 am. A big group started just after us. We set a pretty good pace to get ahead of them. I started with a short sleeve shirt and within half a mile I zipped off my pants legs. It was warming up fast. Right away I saw starflowers. Lots of them. That was it for the day. There were no more starflowers. Next were bleeding hearts. They are seen all along our trip. Many were nearly finished down low but there were some near peak higher up. This was not a great wildflower hike but we did see them off and on. We caught up with a few slower hikers and were passed by some faster ones. After reaching the old Granite Creek Road/Trail we neared the creek. It still has a lot of water in it. There are a couple places where we had good views of the creek. We stopped on the bridge over Granite Creek for some photos and videos. It was loud with the high level of water.
After the creek come the many places where culverts carried water under the old road. Now they are small stream crossings. There were flat rocks placed in the water on the wider crossings. I made it over all of them with dry feet and without taking out my poles. On the way down We did use poles. Thee were a lot more bleeding hearts, trillium, and yellow violets. Though the road was a clearcut years ago, now it was mostly in shade as the brush and trees have grown high. We reached the Granite Lakes/Thompson Lake junction at 10:09 am. We had hiked 3.3 miles so far. We had a lot more solitude after the junction. We did see a couple hikers coming down from Thompson Lake but far less of a crowd than on the route to Granite Lakes.
The old road heading to the Defiance Trail/Thompson Lake goes from 3070' to about 3950' gaining almost 900' in 1.1 miles. That is steep for an old road. The Defiance Trail is narrow and very steep in places. It is very narrow and steep on the descent from the ridge top to Thompson Lake. Trip reports mentioned snow just a few weeks ago. I hoped that the last of the snow would be gone how. It was. The trail leaves the old road and soon begins to descend with nice switchbacks. At the bottom it crosses a creek and begins a steady climb to the ridge top. We were passed by a hiker and her dog along here. The ridge top is at about 4250', the highest point of the trip. Thompson Lake is at 3654'. We lost that 600' in only .40 miles. That is a 1500' per mile pace. That climb on the way out would not be easy. The trail was dry and the footing was fine. We dropped to the edge of the big boulder field at the end of the lake and had views down to the lake. One of the islands had burned since my 2019 visit. There was no sign of any fire at the lake itself.
We went back into forest and continued to a junction. Left goes north along the lake towards the outlet. We went right to south end of the lake. The last bit was through the boulder field. We found the hiker with her dog on the shore and two others fishing farther along the shore. We sat down in between them for out lunch break. It was now 11:47 am. Right on time for lunch. Clouds had come in and the all blue sky when we started was now mostly cloudy. It was still quite warm with some direct sunshine. The hiker left first and then the two hikers who had been fishing. We had the lake to ourselves. Our break lasted until 12:32 pm. I could have spent another couple hours. We still had quite a way to hike back. We hiked back to the junction and took the path down the lake. It has a few logs that have fallen across it and a few creeks to cross. At the other end we left forest and had a good view back up the lake. We could see waterfalls coming down the boulder field at the south end. Crossing the outlet was possible on a bunch of half submerged logs but we had no desire to go across and back. We started back.
A short way back we saw a campsite above the trail. From there we could look down on the small lake/pond below the outlet. It had a lot of silver snags around the shore and on an island. We went back to the junction and prepared for the 600' climb. I took off a windshirt that protected me from the mosquitoes. There were just enough of them to be bothersome. I needed short sleeves for the climb. We passed a couple groups coming down as we ascended. The trail is just wide enough to let others pass by. It was a slow buy steady climb. By the time we reached the ridge top we were at 4000' of elevation gain. That is as much as Mailbox Peak and we were just on a hike to a lake and we still had some more elevation to gain. We dropped off the ridge, crossed the creek, and hiked back up to the start of the Defiance Trail. Now we just had that steep road descent back to the Granite Lakes Trail.
I had told Gary that on my 2019 trip I had seen a lot of saprophytes growing in the dark forest just off the old road. I looked but did not see any while coming down. We did see a huge one coming down. It was as tall as my hiking pole which is over four feet tall. We reached the Granite Lakes junction at 2:48 pm. Now we just had 3.3 miles of downhill. W still had 2200' of elevation to lose. As expected, we did see more people on this popular trail. Some folks were still heading up and more were now heading down. Even with overcast, the day was getting warmer. We took a break at the bridge over Granite Creek. That was about it for breaks. We hiked to Annette Lake on Thursday afternoon/evening and now we were doing the most gain of the year. It started to add up in the last few miles. The Annette and Thompson trips totaled 19 miles with 6100' of gain. That is a lot for us older guys. We left the old road and finished on the newer Granite Creek Connector Trail. It is much softer on the feet and plenty wide to pass other hikers. Just what we needed by this point.
We reached the parking lot at 4:30 pm. The lot had some open spots with some cars parked in unofficial spots as mentioned earlier. For the day we hiked just over 11.5 miles with 4200' of gain. I find it interesting that this trip near Mailbox Peak has more elevation gain to get to a lake. Speaking of lakes, I can't recall the last time we have done four consecutive hikes to lakes. The included two really rough trails, a great easy trail, and 4200' of gain. The overcast was appreciated. It was in the mid 70s when we finished but it could have been much warmer if the morning blue sky stayed longer. There was a nice if not overwhelming wildflower show. I have had plenty of those the past month. The short drive home was also great. Gary managed a first time hike to Thompson even though he had hiked much of the route before. Summer weather is just starting and I have had six consecutive excellent hikes, none of them in the Issaquah Alps. Bring on summer!
 Gary Starting Out |
 South Bessemer Mountain |
 Mossy Rock |
 Narrow Green Trail |
 Hanging Moss |
 View Of Granite Creek |
 Gary On Bridge |
 Creek From Bridge |
 Crossing Streams |
 Flowering Shrub |
 Trillium |
 On Defiance Trail |
 Dropping To Lake |
 Gary Descending |
 Lake Is In Sight |
 On Lakeshore |
 Gary At Thompson Lake |
 Waterfall Above |
 Garter Snake |
 Other End Of Lake |
 Boater On Lake |
 Lake Below Thompson |
 Huckleberry |
 Last Look At Lake |
 Steep & Rooty |
 Jim Crossing Creek |
 Tall Pinedrop |
 More Green Trail |
 Spring Beauties |
 Wild Ginger |
 Bleeding Hearts |
 Another Small Falls |
 Salmonberry Flower |
 Granite Creek Again |
 Cinquefoil |
Trips - 2024
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