Backpack - Packwood Lake

Meet at 9 AM Saturday at the Mountain Goat Coffee Shop, 105 Main St, Packwood, at SR 12, reached from Enumclaw via SR 410, SR 123 and SR 12, and from Olympia via I-5 and SR 12.

From the meeting place in Packwood we will caravan several miles to the trailhead, involving heading north on SR 12, turning right on Snyder Road and continuing to the trailhead parking lot at the end of the road.  A Norhwest Forest Pass of Discover Pass must by displayed by each car at the trailhead parking lot.

The hike to Packwood Lake is on a good trail that gradually rises from 2000 feet to 3200 feet and then drops to 2900 feet at the lake.  The trail arrives at the north end of the lake.  We usually camp on the east side of the lake, which involves another half mile of hiking, depending on where we decide to camp.

After setting up camp, we'll have our trail lunch and then have an optional one hour level day hike to the south end of  the lake, where there is a nice view of Mt. Rainier.  If the weather is nice, swimming in the lake during Saturday afternoon will be a popular activity, because the low elevation of this lake causes the water to be warmer than at higher elevation lakes.

Saturday evening we'll have a camp dinner, followed by smores around the campfire.  Sunday morning we'll have a camp breakfast, pack up camp and hike out.  After hiking out, we customarily stop at a restaurant in Packwood for refreshments.