Lake Valhalla

Our son, Brian, came to visit, and almost immediately asked if we'd be interested in picking him up at Stevens Pass the following evening. His intent? Running from Snoqualmie Pass to Stevens Pass on the PCT (73 miles)! We obliged, and decided to do a late afternoon hike out of Stevens Pass to Lake Valhalla. Our late departure from Seattle allowed us to have a tasty lunch in the mountain town of Skykomish on the way to the Pass. The trail was mostly through nice forest with limited views, but as we gained elevation, we got occasional views of the nearby ridges and peaks. We bypassed the trail down to the lake itself (bugs were fierce), and instead followed a pretty steep side trail towards the summit of Mt. McCausland, where the view of the lake and Lichtenburg Mtn were stunning. After returning to our car, we had sandwiches for dinner at the base of the ski resort, while waiting for Brian. We eventually picked him up at the Surprise Lake trailhead, several miles west of the pass. He "only" did 63 of the 73 miles, but seemed to have a great time!