Melakwa Lake

Sunday, August 30 2009
Cumulative Elevation gain 2200 ft
Trail length: 4.5 miles one way

Time taken: 2hours 20 minutes on way up and 2 hours 5 minutes on way back.
Level of difficulty: Difficult

It was an overcast morning to start with. Most of the clouds/fogs were hanging low. Judging by the small number of cars parked at the small parking area near the trail head at about 9:30 AM, we thought it was not going to be as crowded as mentioned in many of the reviews of this very popular trail. The trail itself was almost deserted as we were on our way up.

The trail runs by the side of the Danny Creek and passes north under the very high viaduct of the westbound I-90 highway. It is fascinating to be crossing such a heavily used thoroughfare unnoticed by any of the highway traffic.

A large part of the popularity of this trail is associated with the "Slippery Slabs" of the Danny Creek about a mile away from the trail head. There is a cascade of three small waterfalls each having a fairly flat rock bed at the bottom. The water is shallow and could be very relaxing in the very hot summer days of July this year, when the water was aplenty. It is a great attraction specially for the kids. By now, in late August, the water flowing on the flat rock beds has significantly diminished in quantity.

Immediately beyond "Slippery Slabs", we crossed the creek and picked up a wrong trail where we came across two snakes in the bushes, rapidly moving away from our pathway. Soon after, we found the main trail and continued.

The trail is well maintained, yet very rocky for the most parts. That results in watching every step on the trail to avoid tripping over and getting injured. We had little chance to enjoy the beautiful scenarios of the mountain sides, waterfalls and high peaks without stopping to do so. Because of this reason, I did not enjoy hiking this trail as much as its surrounding beauty warrants.

We passed rock-slides, meadows and strands of trees to finally cross the Hemlock pass at 4 miles. The clouds and fogs were gone now at this altitude and the sun shined brightly. From here the the trail climbs down to the lake in another half a mile. The lake is serene sight - surrounded by steep mountain walls. I went a couple hundred yards further to the Upper Melakwa Lake beyond which the valley ends.

Only on our way back did we meet the crowds we were supposed to meet. That included many large and small groups of young and old alike - mostly on the higher reaches of the trail, and whole families with kids on the slippery slabs. We crossed yet some more hikers still heading towards the slabs. By this time, the parking lot overflowed with cars parked over more than a quarter mile away from the trail head.
One of the hikers mentioned seeing a black bear. I was not surprised given the abundance of blue berries around!

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