Lodge Lake

It was a fantastic day on Saturday, December 26, 2015, the only good weather window day during the week. We met in the North Bend Safeway parking lot at 8:00 AM to carpool to Snoqualmie Pass. We arrived at the Pass and a full group of Mountaineer snow shoe hikers left the Snoqualmie Pass West parking lot for Lodge Lake at about 9:00 AM. We enjoyed the good weather. We ascended the ski area along the ski run located farthest west near the west ski area boundary and hiked up single file watching for and respecting skiers.
The route to the top of the Pacific Crest chair lift was difficult in places due to the steep ascent, some fog in places and very deep and soft snow. Snowshoes pushed 1 to 2 feet (sometimes more) into the fluffy, soft, dry snow. Breaking trail in such deep snow was exhausting. We rotated breaking trail.
From the top of Pacific Crest chair, we descended down past the top of Dodge Ridge chair and hiked a short but steep distance down to the saddle at beaver lake. Maps indicated that we could intercept the Pacific Crest trail on the left side of Beaver Lake. We were careful to keep off the lake. The heavy snows cause the trees to appear very beautiful in a perfect winter wonderland. Having three experienced snow shoe trip leaders in our group, we traveled in three small groups connected by 2-way radio. The leading group broke trail and navigated to Lodge Lake in a south direction at an elevation contour of about 3,300’. Lodge Lake elevation is 3,125’. When we approached the Lake using iPhone GPS, we simply dropped down to the Lake shore. It became a fun exercise in winter navigation.
We arrived at the Lake at about our expected arrival time, noon. After a 30 minute lunch break, we followed our snowshoe trail back the same direction we came. We arrived at the ski area parking lot about 3:00PM. Everyone performed with outstanding collaborative team work and winter travel mountaineering skills. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed the trip and the break in weather.
I posted trip as “easy+”. I should have posted it as “moderate” due to a steep ascent route, large amount of fresh powdery snow, and smart navigation skills the team needed to reach Lodge Lake.
Gary Zink, trip leader, 27 Dec 2015