WESTERN WASHINGTON

Summary

Tucked away in the Cascade Mountains, Lake Serene is a popular alpine lake. With its stunning backdrop of sheer cliffs, this one is sure to please.

Trail Stats

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Trail Details

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Lake Serene shares a parking lot and trailhead with Bridal Veil Falls. Parking is limited. Unless you arrive early, you’ll have to wait for a parking space. Especially on a nice day.

The trail follows an old road for a little over a mile and a half. If you want to lengthen your hike, head right at the split in the trail. Roughly half a mile up is Bridal Veil Falls. Certainly worth a visit if you’re already out there. If you’re on a mission, head left for Lake Serene.

A bridge provides easy crossing over the creek, keeping shoes and toes dry. It’s a great place to let the dog lap up a drink, if you brought one. Otherwise keep on trekking. From here the trail continuously slopes up, ascending over intertwining roots, rocks. There’s even stairs. Quite a few actually. Some steps are daunting and make one glad for long legs.

Tree’s begin to thin as you approach the lake. You’ll summit a crest and the lake is just below. When we did this hike, the crest and subsequent path to Serene was full of compact snow and ice. Late winter or early spring if I recall correctly. The way down was more of a slip and slide than a dignified stroll. I ate it here, quite nicely. Wham! Straight onto my rear. Who needs a tailbone anyway? That ached for a few days.

When you get to the lake shore, continue on until you’ve found a perfect vantage point. Most people continue on until they hit the big rock. You can’t miss it. There will be no doubt on what rock I mean when you’re there. Reminds me of visiting South Korea. Landed in the evening, took a bus and then I was in charge of walking directions from said bus stop to the hotel. So, I did that. Pretty much the whole bus ride Doug was griping about said directions. He couldn’t get past, “turn left at the big chicken.” We were going to be helplessly lost while jet lagged. Unable to ever find the place due to such faulty directions. Anyhow, as it were, there was a GIANT chicken that one could not miss. We turned left. Found the hotel no problem. Still laugh about those giant chickens. The rock is like the chicken. You won’t miss it.

Hiking in less than ideal conditions has its benefits. The chilly day we arrived to Lake Serene, we mostly had it to ourselves. This apparently is not the norm.

The lake is nestled up next to cliff walls, rising 3K feet above. Ice and snow pooled at its base. The lake coated in a blanket of gradually melting ice. You could see a few thin spots dotting the surface. It’s an awe inspiring view. Stupendously gorgeous. Thin white clouds wafted through the air. It was a series in white meets muted greys, hard edged cliffs blunted with ice and snow. Perfect.

Once happily settled on the big rock, the dog was let loose to galavant in the snow (There was no one else for her to pester). She loved snow. Always acted a fool in it. Normally, she was pretty good. That day a bee flew into her bonnet and she shot out onto the ice like a maniac. Remember those thin spots? Yeah. Not so good. Doug nearly raced after her. He listened better than her, I had no way to pull a dog out of the water, let alone him as well. Luckily our dim witted doggo escaped a polar plunge (barely) and eventually returned. Privileges were promptly revoked. Back on the leash and firmly anchored to a tree. She pouted. Apparently we were spoil sports killing her adrenaline high. We, however had a nice lunch prior to heading back downhill.

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