Blue Lake Trail, North Cascades Hwy

This is a extremely popular day hike. Right off the road, fairly easy trail for small children, that leads to a beautiful little lake. I had stayed away from this trail in the past, due to how busy it is, the parking area always seems to be overflowing all the way out onto the highway. Things changed this last summer and so a few short hikes to maintain some sanity were required. Blue Lake Trail is a trail that consist of some boardwalks, a few up hill sections, a few areas with nice views of the surrounding mountains, and a couple meadow like areas, with a beautiful lake at the end of the trail. I am one that stalks the Washington Trails site to see what trails are open, what flowers folks are seeing, and constantly looking for new places to hike and explore. When I came across someones post that there was ice still on the lake in July, I thought it would be very interesting to check it out. We enjoyed a very pleasant hike up, a handful of climbers heading up the trail. Very popular climbers trail, to the backside of Liberty Mountain. We got there early so we had somewhere to park, and possibly enjoy a fairly quiet trail. Enjoyed a quiet rest at the lake, soaked in the bright morning sun light, then back down the trail. Passed lots of hikers, climbers and families with little ones heading up. I always enjoy seeing little ones starting out hiking and getting out exploring. Enjoyable short hike, beautiful views of the mountains, with a lovely high lake, not too far from Mazama and Winthrop. This was our last hike in July.

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