Trip Report
Snowshoe Field Trip - Grace Lakes
Road walking on snowshoes for a bit around start (lodge) and end (lake). The rest of the trip was cross-country though the woods.
Erik De Bonte
- Sat, Feb 7, 2026
- Snowshoe Field Trip - Grace Lakes
- Grace Lakes
- Snowshoeing
- Successful
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- Road suitable for all vehicles
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Parking lot was icy. Road from the lot past the Moutaineers Lodge and beyond was hard packed. Off trail was about 2 1/2 feet (Lyle measured it at 82 cm) of wet snow. Weather was cloudy in the morning with light rain starting a little before noon. Tree wells were too small to be dangerous. Streams were partially exposed. There were some snow arches across streams (logs?) that we avoided.
We arrived at the Stevens Pass parking lot a little before 8am. Roads were wet but not icy. Parking lots were packed snow or ice.
We saw a white rabbit near the Mountaineers Lodge, but no other wildlife that I recall.
Weather was cloudy in the morning with light rain starting around 11am.
My watch claims we went 2.2 miles with 646 ft of ascent in 4 hr 45 min. That included a lot of breaks for food and instruction though. Our moving time was 1 hr 10 min.
Instructors taught us basic snowshoeing skills including getting our snowshoes on, walking forward and backward, turning, going uphill and downhill in deep snow, sidestepping, Z turns, using the edge of our snowshoes to keep our feet level while traversing steep slopes, etc. Also how to analyze our immediate environment and navigate around slopes and hazards (micro-navigation).