WA > Goldmyer Hot Springs via Snow Lake (2015-02-17/18)

[Montexan]

Well that was a long walk to take a bath.

Goldmyer is a remote hot springs located in the middle of the Central Cascades requiring you to hike-in. This natural preserve only allows 20 people per day into the springs. The typical hike in is about 8 miles, but since the Middle Fork was seriously wrecked a few months ago it's now 20-21 miles.

So I opted for the Snow Lake route. Snow Lake is probably Snoqualmie I-90 corridor's most popular hike--and for good reason. This route to Goldmyer should be under 13 miles and not much over 2000 ft elevation gain (and 3000 going out).



Guye Peak that overlooks the Alpental ski area across the valley. Winter never really happened this year. This is what May typically looks like.



Where Bryant Peak (far left) meets the SE portion of Chair Peak.



This is what skiing in the Cascades has been reduced to: Bunny hills and herring-boning up small slopes in a lake basin.



GPS came in real handy since most signs are buried and tracks are unreliable.



As I was looking at rounded-rectangular holes next to some tracks I thought, "Yep, an nice axe would be nice." Not pictured around the other side a nice shaded ice and talus slope sits. The trail would be considered class 4 , but I navigated a class 3 by kick-stepping Yaktraks, using loose talus and watching my run-out. An ice axe would have been REAL nice here--well worth the 10oz weight penalty.



I was expecting the rocks to come alive like in Frozen.



As I descended into the valley, I moved from talus and ice, to talus and thorny bushes, mossy growth and finally almost marsh-like areas.



Some logs to cross right before the Goldmyer property.



I was the only guest at Goldmyer that day. Drank a nice Cavatica stout (backcountry beer of choice) and headed off to the springs (1/4 mile up the path) to soak and star-gaze.

Obligatory hammock shot. The tarp was just in case; I had clear skies all night!



I didn't want to try my luck on the talus and ice path, despite finding a route, so I opted for the 20 mile hike out through the Middle Fork road.



The first 10 miles were lovely and I kept a pace of 3 mph.



But the last 10 I was dragging at ~2.3 mph and the landscape was a bit ugly due to the massive road repairs.

Overall, not a bad outing. I would highly recommend the Goldmyer path through Snow Lake over the Middle Fork road, but maybe wait a bit or bring suitable gear, even if it is only for a 1/3 mile. Most people are currently riding their bikes into Goldmyer, I appeared to be the only footprints--brilliant.

Note to PCTers: This was the old PCT route that many thru-ers still opt to take (Kendall is over-rated). If I went again, I'd probably do Red Pass.

[JSH]

Looks like some spectacular scenery. The grass boulders do like they might move

Thanks for sharing.

[2ply]

Looks like a nice trip. Great variety of scenery and the snow shots look great.

[2eez4life]

Sharing is caring

[Boomer]

That would not be a fun trip for me. No alpine snow climbing skills.

[billygoat]

Amazing pictures!

[Montexan]

That would not be a fun trip for me. No alpine snow climbing skills.

Before long that won't be an issue! If everything isn't on fire, we might have an extended alpine hiking season.

[Montexan]

FYI: Middle Fork road to Dingford Creek TH is now open on weekends only. Doesn't seem to be well known, so if you've been meaning to go, now's the time.

[Alex MacDonald]

Boomer, I don't see anything that would require serious skills. A pair of micro spikes, decent boots, and an adequately long general-purpose ice axe would work great. Looks like there's some pretty serious Randonee skiing going on in that area, but the trails, no problemo.