Somewhere in the back of my mind I had the idea that I had done the Wyeth trail before. For some reason, that recollection also told me that it wasn’t a very interesting trail. I did remember that it was not easy. Well, I found out I was wrong in all counts except for the difficult part. I certainly recall doing part of this trail but at that time we didn’t reach the lake or any of the amazing viewpoints on the way. This time, with more time and stronger hikers, we did the entire out and back route North Lake and were surprised, not only by the destination, but also by the route. The first part is as any other Gorge trail; you climb quickly to the power lines, cross under them and then, start heading up. For a while, the trail doesn’t offer any views, it’s just a very forested path with tall trees that mask the sounds of the highway only enough to give you an idea you’re out there. After some huffing a puffing and several switchbacks, some views start appearing thru the trees. The first one was a clear sight of Mount Saint Helens on the other side of the river. Higher up, the trail gets to the ridge and skirts on the western side with open slopes overlooking the Columbia River and the Harphan Creek drainage. As if this is not interesting enough, wildflowers in this area are just magnificent at the right time. On our hike we saw a large variety that included wild orchids and lilies. Then, it was back to the hard, steep climb thru the forest. At some point we hit snow and following the track became a bit more difficult. For a moment we veered too much to the east and ended walking on slushy snow over Lindsey Creek which, according to the route I had was my limit. Once I realized that, I shifted direction going straight for the lake. Getting there was one of those wow moments where you see there’s a viewpoint, you know the views are fantastic but you don’t see them until you’re standing right there. When we got there, the sun was hitting that side of the lake so there was no snow making it a perfect spot for lunch and well deserved rest. I did take my time taking extra pictures of the lake while the rest enjoyed sunbathing on the rocks. Our return was following the path all the way down to the car which was as enjoyable as going up… minus the huffing a puffing of course.
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