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WHIDBEY ISLAND  WASHINGTON  USA

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FOUND LAKES CIRCUIT

     This hike qualifies as one of the most strenuous, physically demanding outings I have ever done.  The trail is unbelievably steep, qualifying more as a climb than a hike, and on the ascent, it seems endless.  Then it flip-flops and plunges back down just as steeply and just as endlessly.  And that's just the half.  Back up you go again, climbing boulders, pushing through brush, and slogging through bogs.  It is a wonderful experience I have repeated three times, one time solo.  I am planning another trip this summer.  The difficulty of the trip is one of its most appealing prospects.  A minimum of four days is required for proper enjoyment of the circuit and more time is better.  The trail is a bit difficult to follow in some places so be careful to not get lost.  On the way you will pass Found Lake, the first and most often used camp.  Another four hundred foot climb brings you to Skaro Lake, then Neori Lake.  A short climb over the ridge and the trail plummets straight down to the basin containing Snow King Lake.  By plummet, I mean that the trail turns so steeply downward that plummeting is exactly what it would be exceedingly easy for the hiker to do.  Once the treacherous part is past, it is another 50 feet of steep descent to the floor of the basin and what has to qualify as one of the most beautiful mountain lakes imaginable.  The camp at Snow King is the best wilderness camp I have ever inhabited.  The camp area is on a peninsula built up from years of glacial silt deposit, is soft underfoot, and makes for an amazingly comfortable sleep even without a pad.

     A beautiful meadow above the lake is very much worth a visit.  An energetic climber can walk the length of the meadow along Found Creek past the wide glacier smoothed flank of Snow King Mountain, to the saddle between Found and Otter Creek drainages, and unsurpassed views of the rugged North Cascades.  Just follow Found Creek up from Snow King Lake, veering to the left, for the climb into the meadow.

     From Snow King Lake, the circuit continues by climbing  more than 800 feet up the wide talus slope along the outlet of Cyclone Lake.  This is not a trail hike.  It is a potentially dangerous scramble up a narrow chute of boulders the size of Volkswagens.  Add the weight of a backpack and the necessity for caution is made evident by the remoteness of the place and the knowledge that help is a minimum of 10 hours away, and then only if one of your party is very fleet of foot and equally as cautious.  Suffice it to say that this would not be a good place for a misstep.  But the view out over Snow King Lake, and the subsequent views of Snow King Mountain and Cyclone Lake make the toil of the ascent seem a distant memory.  You will want to make photo after photo as the panorama unfolds before you.  Great campsites above the lake to the left, also very comfortable.

     An awesome side trip once camp is established is to summit Snow King Mountain.  The summit is about two thousand feet above the lake and is a gradual ascent, the only gradual ascent in the area.  But make sure to approach the summit by circling the lake to the left.  If you go to the right you will need crampons and ice axe.  Cyclone Lake occupies a cirque below the smooth shoulder of Snow King Mountain. It is unbelievably deep. From looking at the steep walls of the cirque, it appears the lake might even extend to below the level of Snow King Lake, eight hundred feel below.

     From Cyclone Lake the circuit continues along the crest of Kindy Ridge.  Along the way you will pass numerous deep cracks in the mountain into which if you drop a rock, you will not hear it hit bottom.  The ridge is an unbroken panorama of beauty that is almost indescribable.  You really should see it.  The trail is just as steep descending as the ascent a few days earlier.  Funny how that works, huh?  Walk out day should be started on fresh legs if at all possible.  I know of one guy who made the trip into Cyclone Lake and out in one day, but he is the exception, a mountaineer of note.  Most of us should not try the descent without a good rest prior to the attempt.  Since much of the climb is hand over hand, grabbing and standing on roots and branches, the descent is the same.  Caution cannot be overemphasized.

     The trailhead is not marked on any Forest Service map.  The Green Trails Version maps show the area very well though and should provide sufficient information for an enjoyable trip.  Drive up SR 20, the North Cascades Highway, to Marblemount.  Turn right, cross the bridge, and drive up the Cascade River about 15 miles to road 1570.  Continue to road end and find trailhead on left.  Enjoy!