so i spent my 4th of july hiking the trail to lake serene. a few friends of mine and i rented a car and drove out from seattle late morning. it took just over an hour driving northeast from seattle. rainier cherries are in season right now, so we stopped in the little town of gold bar just before the trail head to pick up some fresh cherries. delicious!
we hit the trail at about 11am, right in the heat of the day. it was kind of purposely since lake serene is suppose to be a good swimming hole. the hike was a 3.7 miles uphill on semi-rocky trails, mostly in the shade of the trees. it was about 80 degrees, but it kept getting a couple degrees cooler the higher we hiked. the trail had some high traffic, and when we got to the lake, there were about a dozen people eating lunch on a big look out rock near the lake. but by the time we finished our lunch, almost everyone had taken off.
we spent the next hour or so diving and swimming around in the lake and then sunning out on the rocks by the lake. the hike up took us just under 3 hours and the hike back down took about 2 hours.
this trail is hikeable as early as may through early October. it's a great getaway from seattle that isn't too far away. the views were gorgeous! and the swimming in the cold alpine water, is welcome after a hot summer hike. i definetly suggest it for anyone. even though it was a steep trail incline, i saw quite a few youngsters making up the trails, no problem.
here are some photos from the trip.
on the hike up
Lake Serene
Me jumping into the lake...that felt so good after hiking almost 4 miles uphill
a few friends and i sunning out on a rock near the lake.
small water fall on the trail
there is also a half mile trail up to Bridal Falls, that we didn't end up taking, but the photos that i have seen are just gorgeous. i'll definetly be making back there to that sometime.
Lake Serene, Washington - 4th of July
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