Keep it secret, keep it safe. (Bathtub Lakes)

There is a push among local hikers to keep this hike on the DL. The reasoning is that it is right downhill from Mt Pilchuck (literally), which sees many, many thousands of visitors every year. And what have we seen in places that get a lot of visitors? That's right, probability states that a certain amount of those people will be assholes and/or morons, and those people will either: a) Shit in the lakes, making everyone sick. b) Burn down the forest. c) Leave huge piles of beer cans and cigarette butts all over. Or even d) all of the above.

Alright fine! I'm over-simplifying. But only because I've seen it happen, but I also know there is a correlation between difficulty of getting somewhere and being less likely to find idiots there. So here I go, risking the wrath of... who knows... to tell you about this fine place you can go.

I've heard you can get to it from a ridge traverse from Mt Pilchuck too, but we took the bear-pinnacle lake route. Hike to Pinnacle lake (short, with very reasonable elevation gain), the follow the crappy trail around the south side of the lake and just start walking up the rocky gulch on the far side.

They're nice, like a cross between Gothic Basin (one of my favorites) and Rampart Lakes... if that means anything to you. But unlike those places, I think you'd see a fraction of the people than at those places.

Another possible deterrent to keep the crowds away: in 2006 (a week before a backpacking trip I planned in this area) two women were found shot dead on this trail!




Pinnacle lake, you can see Andrew and Josie following the brushy path.


The gulch... rough going, made worse by horrid swarms of mosquitoes.


When we got up to the basin, sunset was rapidly approaching, and there was a cool low cloud bank in the puget sound basin.


Best picture from the trip


lots of wildflowers


We didn't really get a chance to explore...another time, perhaps.




We didn't get to explore because the following morning we were greeted by a wall of fog (well, we were inside the cloud, to be accurate) so it kinda sucked.








I brought you some flowers... please love me!


That is all.