Basic Snowshoe - Lanham Lake

Most of our group met at the Brickyard P&R at 7 AM. The traffic on Hwy 2 to Stevens Pass Nordic Center was a breeze. Another participant met us at the Nordic Center. We were surprised to see find that only a few cars were there around 8:45 AM.

The snow on the route had just the right combination of grip and give to make the trip up (and down) easy. There were already a few trails heading up to the lake. We did not encounter any other snowshoers or skiers on the way up and had the lake to ourselves while we enjoyed an early lunch. We tried exploring the areas just above the lake but did not get very far in either direction before hitting large sections of downed trees.

The weather was cold, dry, and windless making for very pleasant travel and lunch.

On the way down, we finally passed a few snowshoe parties heading up - and got to the cars just in time to see the first flakes fall (heavy precip for the next 24 hours or so). By this time (around one), there were many more cars and recreationalists around.

Road conditions to and from were passable for all cars. On the way back, there was a major accident just west of Skykomish. The highway went down to one lane for a few hundred feet to get around the involved parties. There was the usual slow traffic approaching Sultan which cleared up after the last traffic light.

It was a great group of folks to spend the day with!