Leigh Lake Trail

A hike to an alpine lake is my favorite kind of hike. This one was hard!

The trailhead sign warns that this hike is like climbing the stairs to the top of the Empire State Building and then some! That is something I would never do. They’re just trying to scare me. Also, it’s an out-and-back trail, so once we start, I’m not committed. I could turn back. Last weekend, I hiked 1400 feet over 3.3 miles to Trestle Peak. It was surprisingly easy for this flatlander from Illinois – a gentle incline the whole way. The hiking app AllTrails rated the Trestle Peak hike as hard (out-and-back). The hiking app Gaia rated it as easy (one-way).

The Leigh Lake trail I’m headed to today is 1.5 miles to the top and rises 1200 feet. It’s not that different. And it’s a short hike. Several friends highly recommended it, saying it was one of their favorites. Again, AllTrails rated it hard; Gaia rated it easy. The trail starts earthen and soft. It gives gently under my steps. The slope is easy. As the path steepens, I start breathing harder and think it’ll be a slog the rest of the way. Then around a bend, the trail flattens out. I get a reprieve to catch my breath without stopping. The trail passes through shaded woodlands of mountain maple, mountain ash, alders, and larch.And so it goes: steeper sections and then easier again. We rise out of the valley to dramatic views of the Cabinet Mountain Range. Looking back down the drainage, we get a better sense of the steep terrain we have been climbing through.Tufts of white hair are caught in the bushes along the trail. Dog hair seems most likely, although I’m hoping for mountain goat. I pluck a piece from a branch. It’s wool! Definitely mountain goat. It is unseasonably hot today (into the 90s), and midday isn’t an ideal time to spot goats at the lake, but I love that they left me notes on the trail!

As if to bolster my confidence, my hiking tracker lied to me. When I remarked that we were at the half-mile mark, one-third of the way up, and it’d been easy, my companion said his tracker showed we’d only gone 1/3 of a mile. Of course, I discounted his app as mistaken and mine as correct, because that’s the preferred scenario. Once we arrived at the lake, my tracker said I’d hiked 1.9 miles (and I’m taking credit for every step of it!); my partner’s said 1.4 miles, which is consistent with the trail signage.

Our first views of the waterfall spark speculation as to the source of the falls. It seems they must be spilling out of the lake, but also, they look much too far away to be our destination. We meet a couple picking their way down the trail. He’s carrying a toddler in a backpack! I can barely get myself up and down this trail, and he’s carrying another person! Sheesh.

At the waterfall viewpoint, we’re about three hundred vertical feet from the top with maybe 1/3 mile to go.

That doesn’t sound too bad. But if I were climbing the Empire State Building stairs (which again I wouldn’t be), that would mean thirty floors to go! And here is where the trail leaves the trees and turns to scree (slope of loose rock debris) and talus (large, sometimes even house-sized boulders that have accumulated on a hillside from higher cliffs).

It’s a bit of a scramble and crawl to the top, over some narrow, precipitous ledges with a couple of dry, rocky creekbed crossings.

A short 78-degree (!!) climb finally brings us to a relatively flat aspen grove and views of Snowshoe Peak. Mercifully, the trail drops slightly.

Finally, the lake comes into view! Patterns and striations in the exposed mountaintop rock plunge deep into the crystal-clear waters of the glacial lake. Waterfalls from snowfields trickle down from Snowshoe Peak, the tallest mountain in the Cabinet Mountain Range.The water is delightfully cold. I dunk my head, refill my water bottles and take a long, refreshing drink. I remove my shoes and socks to soak my feet.Further down this shoreline, another hiker and his black lab take in the scenery – one from the shore and one from the water. Two people float and frolic at the far end of the lake. No one else is here mid-day on a Saturday. It’s wilderness quiet.

Once rejuvenated, I wandered the shore. I pass more goat wool caught in the brush. A pond in a wet meadow provides a hunting ground for an American dipper. With snowmelt and spring rains, this summer backwater would be part of the lake. I watch the dipper hunting from her favorite rock. Dippers are the world’s only aquatic songbirds. In North America, they nest above high-altitude waterways in the Northwest. They dive and swim to catch the submerged insects, larvae, fish eggs and worms they eat to survive. I watched her routine: dip, dive, shake, swallow, perch, repeat until I was pulled away by the dramatic alpine landscape surrounding me.

It’s a wilderness amphitheater.After lunch, we started back down. I’d expected the descent to be easier once we passed the waterfall and got below the scree. The trail remained too steep, and the footing too loose for me to swing my hips to spare my knees. The whole way down.

We passed a few groups heading up as we were skittering down. A few teenagers in bathing suits literally running up the mountain for a swim. A couple familiar with the trail who opted to hang out at the waterfall instead of making the last big effort. And a Mennonite family with four kids looking haggard for the exertion (as I’m sure I did) and ill-equipped for this hike (not that bathing suits are recommended hiking attire).

Clouds began to gather. A bit further down, among the trees, we hear the first rumbles of thunder. I’m glad we’re not higher up, facing the prospect of turning back or hiking down a rain-slicked trail, creekbeds no longer dry. As it is, my muscles are fatigued, and I’m mostly falling down the mountain

We reach the truck as the first drops of rain begin to fall. The brunt of the storm doesn’t hit until we’re back on the paved highway. The rain is blowing sideways. Visibility drops. I wonder about the groups that were hiking up when we were coming down.

It’ll take a few days for my muscles to recover. Totally worth it. What a beautiful day!

If you’re interested in purchasing or licensing any images you see here, please email me at SNewenham at exploringnaturephotos.com, and I’ll make it happen.

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