The weather forecast was looking a bit unclear for the weekend, so Dad and I made plans to meet at Charlie's in Enumclaw for breakfast. There, we'd decide if the skies looked clear and dry enough for a day hike. Sure enough, we were greeted with blue skies, so we decided to go check out Hidden Lake, off the Palisades Trail from Sunrise Point at Mount Rainier. The first lake seen is Sunrise Lake. On the way through the open woods and wildflower littered meadows, we had to stop and break out the bug repellant, as the mosquitoes were downright viscious! Even the repellant didn't seem to distract them as much as we would have liked. Soon enough, we came to Clover Lake, rather shallow, but very scenic!



We considered turning back at the top of the ridge above Clover Lake, which Dad called Clover Pass, but after a brief rest, decided to suffer the second major elevation loss and head over to the Dick's Lake area. We never did find the camp which is supposed to be at Dick's Lake, though we guesstimated that it was near this small lake, just a short walk pass the turnoff to Hidden Lake. The upper and lower Palisades lakes, as well as another campsite, are another 3/4 mile past this little lake. We decided to hike up to Hidden Lake, seeing how it was reputed to be very pretty, and only 6/10 of a mile further. The trail to it was nice, crossing the outlet stream twice and traversing some open meadows below the lake.



Hidden Lake was indeed as promised, quite beautiful! We saw one couple who had been up there fishing for some time, but not caught anything. The water was amazingly clear. Unfortunately, the mosquitos were thick as ever, and even more persistant it seemed. At least the wind came up occassionally, so we could eat lunch without being eaten alive.



Here's the view from our lunch spot, and a view looking back towards Hidden Lake from near Clover Pass. Hidden Lake is at the base of the talus slope shown in the center of the picture. As you can see, the clouds rolled in quickly. In fact, shortly after we sat down for lunch, the sun disappeared from Hidden Lake and the entire rest of our hike. Rain looked imminent, but we managed to make it back to the car without getting wet. The temperature had dropped to a mere 50 degrees, so with the wind blowing, it was rather chilly any time we stopped.

This is a pretty hike, but you lose any sight of Mount Rainier once you pass Sunrise Lake. Also, the books are not kidding when they say this trail is up and down! Despite Hidden Lake being only 200' lower than the parking lot, you have to lose 1000' and gain 800' to get there. The camping opportunities, with none at Hidden Lake, or anywhere else besides the official campsites, don't look too promising. Despite the ominous weather, we saw numerous people heading in as we were coming out, well after five in the evening. We were very happy to get back to the warm and mosquito free car without getting rained on! We treated ourselves to a nice meal at McDonald's in Enumclaw before heading home. Thanks again, Dad!