In early October of this year (2006), Margie and I took a hike to Surprise Lake in the Alpine Lakes Wilderness near Steven's Pass.
Figure 1: The Alpine Lakes sign on the Surprise Creek Trail.
The lakes are part of the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest. The forest contains 1,724,229 acres of land, of which 711,956 acres are Wilderness. There are just over 1500 miles of trails in the forest, of which 586 miles are in the Wilderness. In 2004 there were 64 wildfires in the Wilderness, which ended up burning 518 acres.
Wilderness is a legal designation. In 1964, Congress passed the Wilderness Act. An area is given Wilderness Designation by an act of Congress, and signed into law by the President. According to the act, wilderness is about freedom. Wilderness lands are "untrammeled." A trammel is a net or shackle. Lands that get Wilderness designation will not be "subject to human controls and manipulations that hamper the free play of natural forces."
The hike started out under two huge power lines that emitted a loud electronic buzz and sizzle as we passed under them. I assumed they came from one of the many dams on the Columbia River, and probably carried energy back to our home in Seattle where they helped provide us with light, warm food and hot water.
Figure 2: High Power Lines. Buzz! Crackle! Sizzle!
We were hiking on Trail 1060, called Surprise Creek Trail. The Surprise Creek Trail starts at 2200 feet, and climbs up to 4900 feet. It is four point seven miles one way, which means the round trip is just under ten miles. This route is available in the summer and the fall, and is designated for foot use only. Our journey started near Highway 2 just outside of Skykomish. The trail head is near a service center for the Burlington Northern Railroad. For the first 1/2 mile or so it is all clearcuts and high power wires. However, it is not long before the path enters the lush silence of a primeval forest. Other trails in the Skykomish area can be found on the Forest Service web site.
Surprise Creek Trail intersects with the Pacific Crest Trail. The Pacific Crest Trail is 2,650 miles long, and stretches from Canada to Mexico. It follows the arch of the Cascade and Sierra mountains. The section of the trail that runs through Washington State is 500 miles long.
Figure 3: This sign is found at the end point of the trail by Surprise Lake, but I put it here just to get us oriented.
Surprise Creek winds down a mountain valley. Hills rise up steeply on both sides of the trail, and there is a steep, bowl-like incline at the far end of the trail, near the lake. As shown in Figure 4, if you load the the 3-D view into local.live.com, you can get a pretty good view of the valley that leads to the lake.
Figure 4: The route from Highway 2 up to Surprise Creek as seen at this link on local.live.com in 3-D view. The trailhead is near the red flag numbered 1, and the lake near the red flag numbered 2.
Like so many of the trails in this area, the Surprise Lake trail is beautifully maintained. Throughout the first half mile of the hike, we were often walking on beautiful wooden scaffoldings, which may have been made of cedar. Such a luxury is a rarity in the back country. A wooden path like this is designed to keep your boots out of the mud in areas where the ground is more like a swamp than a trail.
Figure 5: The forest near the base of the trail is well tended, and contains many large cedars.
Take a moment to click on the above picture so that it appears full size in a separate window. The forest we walked through was "lovely, dark and deep." As we walked along we felt the cares of this busy world dissipate as our nervous systems attuned themselves to the ancient, silent ways of the wilderness.
The were many wondrous sites to view as we climbed higher up the trail. Huge multicolored fungus, bigger than the palm of my hand stood by the side of the path.
Figure 6: The mushrooms are interesting too look at, but only an expert should start nibbling at these tempting morsels.
Moss covered rocks surrounded Surprise Creek. Even in October it was full with crystal water that ran noisily beside the trail. Huge cedars, firs and boulders stood astride the creek, dwarfing our tiny lives. Millennia passed with little change to the ecosystem. A generation of trees would pass every few hundred years. The oldest living inhabitants were here before Columbus had discovered the New World.
Douglas Firs rarely reach 1000 years of age. Further south, in California, one can walk among Sequoia that were already old when Buddha first turned the Wheel of the Dharma in the Deer Park.
Figure 7: Moss covered rocks beside a stream.
As we climbed up higher clearings appeared beside the trail. The fall colors painted the hill side. Rocky fields plush with vine maple and brush glowed green, yellow, orange and red.
Figure 8: With an eye made quiet by the power / Of harmony, and the deep power of joy, / We see into the life of things. - Wordsworth
As we walked deeper into the forest, we were surrounded by plants that seemed to come from some other, timeless age. The leaves of these plants (devil's club?) surrounding Margie were as big as two hands put side by side.
Figure 9: Margie climbing up the path behind me. The trail was so beautiful neither of us wanted it to end.
The valley we hiked up ended in a steep bowl like structure. We gained over 2000 feet tracing switchbacks through the primeval forest. At last, we gained the top of the trail and found ourselves by Surprise Lake.
Figure 10: The water in the lake was so clear you could easily see down ten or more feet.
The temperature seemed to drop a good ten degrees when we arrived at the lake. The wind up here cut through our sweat soaked tee shirts, and we quickly pulled on warmer clothes.
We walked out to the point visible on the top left of Figure 9. The big rock you can see by the point made an excellent place for us to rest and eat a snack. The wind looks calm in these pictures, but it picked up while we snacked. We were both soon snuggled into three or four layers of clothing.
Figure 11: The old first by the side of the lake were twisted by the wind. Their roots climbed over the rocks, forming soulful sculptures of entwined wood, rock and moss.
My Buddhist teacher in Santa Cruz more than once accused me of being too interested in attaining bliss, which is a rather serious insult in the Theravaden tradition in which we practiced. Here you can see the whole bliss bunny syndrome in unabashed display. If you can stand the quick change of traditions, here is Dogen (a Zen monk) on some of these issues: "Do not practice buddha-dharma for your own sake. Do not practice buddha-dharma for name and gain. Do not practice buddha-dharma to attain blissful reward. Do not practice buddha-dharma to attain miraculous effects. Practice buddha-dharma solely for the buddha-dharma. This is the way."
Figure 12: A happy hiker on the trail.
Despite these warnings, I suppose I'm still unrepentant. After all, who would not react strongly to explosions of color on the trail that ran beside the lake?
Figure 13: The trail by the side of the lake had bright fall colors on both sides.
As we headed back, we got a few last glimpses of the mountains that hovered over the lake before clouds moved in and shrouded them in fog.
Figure 14: Mountains to the north of Surprise Lake.
It was about 4 1/2 miles back to the car, but time passed quickly as we trod the dusty switchbacks through the green forest down to the creek. Dusk shrouded the details of the trail by the time we reached the wooden pathway near the high power wires. After a day of hiking, one gets tired, and both Margie and I tripped a few times over hidden roots or treacherous rocks that we had easily eluded on the way up.
Reluctantly we emerged from paradise and re-entered the complex world of cars, cell phones and computers which seems both so familiar and so strange. Now I have these pictures to remind me of the forest and blue skies that are now hidden behind the gray shroud of the Seattle winter. It's good to be safe and warm, looking at pictures, and dreaming of next years hikes in the sun.