Elain at Annette Lake
This weekend I was busy on Saturday, so Elain and I had to settle for planning our hike on Sunday. The forecast for Sunday was terrible, with rain predicted the entire day. Consequently, we planned a short and low-elevation hike. We decided to hike to Annette Lake, figuring that on the off chance the rain stopped, we could try and scramble up Silver Peak. We started out from the trailhead at 9:40 AM in a steady rain. Within the first 30 minutes we hit the snow line, and the trees had already accumulated quite a bit of snow. The rainfall was causing the trees to drop ice and snow all around us, so we had the fun of being hit in the head by these "snow bombs" for the next two hours. At one point we got a glimpse of the valley to the west of the trail, and it was quite pretty. When we reached Annette Lake at 11:30 AM, we were both completely soaked. The wind was picking up and it appeared to be snowing above 4000'. We looked longingly at the ice flows that had formed on the north face of Abiel Peak, just on the other side of Annette Lake. With the deteriorating weather and likely avalanche hazard up higher, we turned around and headed back towards the trailhead. The hike back to the trailhead went quickly, but seemed to take longer because we were so soaking wet. Elain was quite cold by the time we reached the car, at 1:15 PM. Nevertheless, it was good to get outside and enjoy our first snow hike of the season. I was happy with how my ankle performed in the snow, but the same cannot be said for my boots -- they leaked to the point where they were filled with standing water. [I hadn't had a chance to replace my winter boot liner since Mount Baker.] I vowed to get some waterproof boots for next weekend.
Elain at Annette Lake
Steve at Annette Lake
Annette Lake, with Abiel Peak in the background
Some interesting looking ice routes are starting to form on the north face of Abiel Peak