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Box Canyon Creek
Rachel Lake Trail No. 1313
| OCTOBER 24, 2009 Not every great hike reaches the
planned destination. We planned to hike to Rampart Lakes, an
11-mile round-trip hike, so we left Seattle early in the morning.
It was a cold 34º when we left the
trailhead, and there was light snow on the mountain tops. The
brilliant colors that make this trail so noteworthy in the fall had
faded to soft beiges and browns and even the formidable devils club was
nothing more than a sodden mass as we hiked through the open spaces.
But the air was clean and crisp, the forest was fragrant, the sky was
blue, and we enjoyed our hike despite the lack of fall color.
Recent heavy rains swelled the streams, and I was amazed at how fast and
full the first waterfall was. The streams and falls were faster
and deeper than I have ever seen them before. We hopped boulders
on the first stream crossing, but turned back at the next one, which was
deeper than boot height and lacked boulders or logs to cross on.
We deemed it too cold to do a wet crossing and called it a day. At
6 miles, our hike did not live up to the CHS standards we've become
accustomed to, but all agreed it was a great hike. It's hard to
find fault with this trail in any season.
6 miles roundtrip 200' gain |
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