Hiked On: December 31, 2005
Weather Conditions: Approximately 30°F-34°F, overcast, some snow
Elevation: 2150-2750'
Distance from Seattle: Just over 90 miles
Pictures: None
US Forest Service: Lake Elizabeth, Trail 1071
Even though the USFS page says this one is easy, it wasn't. We couldn't drive all the way to the trailhead (snow), so had to park it a good ways down at 2150', with the lake actually being at 2900'. We don't know how far we hiked, because of this. The hike was walking along a USFS road primarily, uphill. The first mile or so was occasional snow, and after that, we had to throw on the snowshoes for the rest of the hike. We did this hike after relaxing with Jeff and Misty at a cabin up in Skykomish. We got a bit of a late start (it sure is nice to sleep in every once in a while), and didn't have much information about the trail beforehand. We had no idea what elevation the lake was at, or how far it was! Never again… 🙂
Once the afternoon moved on, we decided to turn around so we could get back down before the sun set. After sitting here doing some research, it seems we were only about 150' vertical away from our goal.
Side note: snowshoe hiking is hard work!
Total distance hiked: Unknown, total elevation gain: 600' (400' of which were in snowshoes).