Wildcat Lake Alpine Packrafting
Paddling in Upper Wildcat Lake
Nov 2-3, 2019
Eric and Katie
We started from the Snow Lake trailhead at Snoqualmie Pass late Saturday morning carrying heavy overnight packs filled with all kinds of fun toys like a packraft, fishing rod, and tent. It was very crowded hiking up to Snow Lake thanks to the unseasonably dry conditions for November. The trail was snow free up to the first pass, then icy down to the lake.
The view from the island
As we got farther in we encountered fewer people. Past Gem Lake we were the only ones on the trail. We dropped down to Lower Wildcat Lake, then followed the steep unmaintained trail to Upper Wildcat Lake, which we had all to ourselves.
I put together the telescoping fishing rod and Katie fished for dinner. Meanwhile I inflated the packraft and paddled out to the island in the middle. The fish didn’t bite, but we still had a good tortellini dinner.
The next morning Katie got some paddling in I quickly tagged Wild Dare Peak (5,311ft, about a 70 minute round trip hike from camp at the outlet of the lake). We packed up late morning as some day hikers came to the lake. On the hike out I made a side trip to tag Wright Mountain (5,430ft), before hiking back to Snoqualmie Pass.
© 2019, egilbert@alum.mit.edu. All rights reserved.
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