Lake Edna

Whew, I finally got some hike & camp in this summer! Ellen (my housemate), Mark (Ellen's friend), and I headed over to the Leavenworth area for a hike up to Lake Edna. Icicle Creek Road was washed out before we could get to our trailhead, so we parked the Ellen's Ford Taurus at the Ida Campground and hiked the extra two miles to the trailhead (elev. 3000 ft). The first 4.5 miles of Trail 1580 are all up, up Chatter Creek to the pass (elev. 6700 ft). The pass is just east of Grindstone Mountain. Then you drop to a boulder field and follow the ridge line from below for about a mile. There are impressive views of the Index Creek Valley to your right (northeast) and the ridgeline above (west), but don't stop for too long or you'll be attacked by hundreds of mosquitos instead of just a couple. The path is not well marked in this section (follow the cairns where possible) and the confluence of Trail 1580 (what we were hiking on) with Trail 1570 (the Icicle Ridge Trail) is not marked whatsoever except that wonders whether to take a right or or forge ahead at one juncture. Shortly thereafter, head up a small stream by shear instinct, and once on top of the ridge, you're practically at Lake Edna. After leaving the car at 12:30 pm, we finally made it to the lake about 6 pm.

Lake Edna is surrounded by cliffs and peaks to the north, west, and south, which rise about another 500 feet up. Named after one of Brigham Young's many wives, the lake is supposedly the most beautiful (maybe not the wife though?). Many of the surrounding lakes are named after his wives as well and there is even a Lake Brigham. Question: was this naming spree tribute or satire?

After making a tour of the lake and relieving ourselves of processed water, we quickly broke camp in a fine location on flat ground uphill and to the west of the lake. Previous settlers had build a fine 1.5-foot rock wall and a small cooking station so propane burners wouldn't flicker out. Mark went to work cooking our dehydrated meals and we quickly remembered that although water boils faster at altitude, cooking also takes longer. After 20 minutes, we were in business with the first batch. 20 minutes later, the second batch was done as well.

The weather was quite cold. The cool wind kept away mosquitos, but made me wish I had brought pants as Mark and Ellen had done. I ate my food from inside the tent looking out. The wind picked up at night and misty clouds rolled in. In the morning the wind wipt the mist into rain dropplets that fell onto our tents and dampened the ground. Which apparently was a good thing, as the wind had blown dust into Ellen and Mark's tent - the dampness put that problem at bay. The cold weather kept me in the tent as long as I could bear not stretching my legs, but finally somethings must be taken care of in the morning. Mark quickly prepared our oat meal and we quickly broke camp to high tail it down the mountain. After leaving at about 10:30 a.m., we made it to our car at 2:30.

A refreshing stomp in the ice-cold Icicle Creek capped our hiking experiences before we dined in Leavenworth, shaked at the 59, and sat in the car line from Sultan to Seattle.