Spectacle Lake

Finally, it was time for the inaugural Bionic Knee Backpack. After almost a year of rehabbing and constant exercise, plus multiple non-trivial day hikes, I (Tom) felt the knee was ready. And, of course, it had to be a worthy destination. So a one nighter to Spectacle Lake was selected. It's located in the Alpine Lakes Wilderness area of the Cascades, 15ish miles north of Snoqualmie Pass. I'd day-hiked there many years ago, and had always wanted to stay overnight. The hike was a bit on the long side for a first go (10ish miles each way), but a very modest elevation gain (2000') kinda compensated. The weather report was ambiguous and oscillating between not bad and not too good, but I finally decided to just go for it. The drive across the mountains was really socked in, leading to some serious second-guessing the decision to go. But, too late! And sure enough, about a half hour over the pass, it was clear and sunny, and stayed that way for both days (it clouded up overnight, so no good stargazing).

The hike itself was very nice, first mostly flat through forest, and eventually a pretty stiff climb through an old burn area. There was a creek fording required in the middle, and, for the first time, I decided to just walk through it with my boots on, but with my socks and insoles in my pack. There was a smallish log that could be used to cross, but the mounting move looked risky, so I opted out. The strategy worked well enough, but the boots didn't dry out the rest of the trip, despite my attempts to bang and wipe all the moisture away.

And Spectacle Lake certainly didn't disappoint! Gorgeous views of big peaks beyond the lake. And for most of the first day, the peaks were holding back clouds from the west side of the mountains. Spent the remainder of the day hanging out and wandering around. The combinations of rocks, water, trees, grasses, and mountains was visually stunning. I was hoping for some good sunset and/or sunrise colors, but no such luck. Just some interesting cloud formations coming over at dusk.

I broke camp early the next morning. As I was just about to leave, I heard a large splash in the lake ... and I'm thinkin' "That sounds like a really big fish!". I went to investigate, and I saw a large bird circling above the lake. Eventually it came diving down and made another big splash. It wasn't clear that it caught something, but it spiraled up until and eventually disappearing over the ridge ... so, I'm guessing it caught its breakfast! Not sure what kind of raptor it was, perhaps and osprey or a falcon.

The hike out was straight forward ... though I went a longer route to avoid the stream ford. It ended up that the bridge on that route was out, so there was a stream crossing that way, too ... but much more of a rock hop. Overall, a great trip ... and the knee held up fine!