WAMelakwaLakeDestination: Melakwa Lake, WA
Style: Hiking Entered: 09/25/2004 |
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Report: Melakwa Lake is a moderate 9 mile. 2600 elevation gain in 350 out, about 5 hours. To get there drive I90 to exit 47 and go toward Denny Creek. The parking area is right after Denny Creek Campground. Note: Yesterday when we went the bridge was out, so we had to go to exit 52 and go in that way.
This is a great hike. It starts out flat. You get to go under I90 which I'll be you never knew was so high. Then you come to granite water slides that the kids love in the summer. A few minutes later you come upon these falls:
After these falls you travel through a pretty valley but then you hit the switch backs. It's a pretty steep end to the hike but it's not too bad. We hit the lake late in the day (skipped out of work early). During mid day the lake is a beautiful emerald green. It'd be fun to bring a mask and snorkel up and explore. Imporant Notes: Malakwa means mosquito in some Indian language... it wasn't named this for no reason. :) In July this place is a nightmare. Also, the parking lot during the summer fills up by 7am most weekend days. Also, near the end of the hike you can't see the lake, there's a sign pointing down hill to the left that goes to another lake (about 2-3 miles away). Obviously, stay right. If you go left you can hook up to Pratt Lake, climb the ridge, and descend into Tallapus/Ollalie lake area, go up to Rainbow Lakes and come down Bandera or go back down the the Granite Mtn parking lot. Lots of really great 14+ mile loops if you've got the whole day.
There's a cool community of backpackers and independent travelers over at Blogabond. You should check it out!
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