Barclay Lake

Mike and Raymond went with a group of scouts on a backpack trip to Barlcay Lake in the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest.  While there were only two scouts who came, it was a very fun outing, since James Howell's cousins from Ireland came along as well.  While I've hiked this trail a couple of times, this was probably my favorite time, since we woke up to a beautiful calm lake and a sun-drenched Baring mountain facing us right across the lake.  While it took us quite a while to start a fire, because of the wet wood, James Howell and Ben Prior were persistent and got a pretty decent blaze going in the end.  In the morning, most of the group took a swim in a nice little swimming hole at the outlet of the lake.  Raymond and I excluded ourselves, because we figured that swimming in recent snow melt just wasn't our idea of a good time.  On the way back home, we enjoyed some awesome pizza at Rico's Pizza in Gold Bar. We recommend the Carribean (BBQ chicken) and the International (Combination).  Both were delicious!

Glass-like Annette Lake reflects in early morning sunlight with impressive Mount Baring in the background.  This view is so in-your-face, that it took 9 total pictures in a 3x3 panorama to get this view.  It was our first ever three-deep panorama, and Hugin came to the rescue to help create this spectacular view!

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Photos and Videos

Here is an online album of photos and videos.  The videos comprise a swim that some of the group did in a nice little swimming hole at the outlet of the lake. 

GPS Info

Here is the GPS data collected during the trip:

Maps

This Google Map  is provided by GPS Visualizer.

Elevation Profile

The hike to Barclay Lake is relatively short and flat, making it an excellent destination for beginning backpackers, like the ones we took on this trip.

This elevation profile is provided by GPS Visualizer.

Coordinates and other details:

Mileage:  Time:  Average Speed:  Trailhead Coordinates:

1.7 Miles (one way) 0:49:28 2.1 MPH N47 47.523 W121 27.543

If you would like to use this info with your GPS unit, the full GPX file is here.
If you want to view this in Google Earth, you can download the KMZ files of the track  and topographic overlay.

Annette Lake

Mike went with a group of scouts on a backpack trip to Annette Lake in the Cascade Mountains as a part of their preparations for a 50-miler this Summer.  Unfortunately, it was a very small group who were able to make it (two to be precise), which was a shame because it was a beautiful hike, and we enjoyed sunny weather this weekend.  Suzanne and I hiked the trail the weekend before this outing, in order to assess trail conditions and provide details to the scouts as they prepared.  Amazingly, the lake was completely frozen over when we went, but it had almost entirely thawed just one week later, as seen from the photo below!

A 7-frame panorama of Annette Lake in early morning sunlight.

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Photos

Here is an online album of photos. 

GPS Info

Unfortunately, I only collected the GPS data for the trip into the lake, so the mileage reported would need to be doubled for a 7.0 mile round trip hike.  Here is the GPS data:

Maps

This Google Map  is provided by GPS Visualizer.

Elevation Profile

This profile was created using Garmin BaseCamp.

Coordinates and other details:

Mileage:  Time:  Average Speed:  Trailhead Coordinates:

3.5 Miles (one way) 1:48:39 (up) / 1:36:00 (down) 1.8 MPH (up) / 2.2 MPH (down) N47 23.571, W121 28.451

If you would like to use this info with your GPS unit, the full GPX file is here.
If you want to view this in Google Earth, you can download the KMZ files of the track  and topographic overlay.