Mason Lake
Jun. 3rd, 2026 10:40 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tiggymalvern
Monday was gorgeous - fabulously sunny, not that hot, perfect for hiking uphill in shorts and T-shirt.
The Mason Lake hike starts in forest near the car park, and it's a couple of miles before anything noticeably changes. Then you start to get gaps between the trees where you can see across the valley to the hills on the other side.
Bunchberry growing in the shaded understorey.
Beargrass flower spikes.
As you climb higher, the tree gaps get wider and you can look back down to I-90 winding along the valley floor.
Higher still and you switchback across a boulder field, with Mount Rainier towering beyond the hills to the southeast.
Finally you cross the ridgeline and then drop down a few hundred feet to Mason Lake. Seen here from the outflow stream where you first meet it with crystal clear water.
Looking along the sunlit shore of the lake towards my lunch spot on the rocks by the water's edge.
Making my way along the shoreline.
Views from my lunch rock. Mostly it was lovely sitting in the sun, but a few times when the breeze got a bit stiffer, shorts and T-shirt were on the chilly side. I stayed well clear of the water, as that would have been a lot more than chilly...
A Canada jay by the lake shore. A few years ago, they were called gray jays, but a lot of birds are getting renamed lately.
Oregon grape flowering by the trail on the way back down. These grow at my house too.
Thimbleberry flowers back down near the car park.
My first real hike of the year (the weather has not been conducive, or it's chosen to be so when I've been at work). 3.5 miles each way, 2400 feet/740m uphill. A good start to nearly-summer!
The Mason Lake hike starts in forest near the car park, and it's a couple of miles before anything noticeably changes. Then you start to get gaps between the trees where you can see across the valley to the hills on the other side.
Bunchberry growing in the shaded understorey.
Beargrass flower spikes.
As you climb higher, the tree gaps get wider and you can look back down to I-90 winding along the valley floor.
Higher still and you switchback across a boulder field, with Mount Rainier towering beyond the hills to the southeast.
Finally you cross the ridgeline and then drop down a few hundred feet to Mason Lake. Seen here from the outflow stream where you first meet it with crystal clear water.
Looking along the sunlit shore of the lake towards my lunch spot on the rocks by the water's edge.
Making my way along the shoreline.
Views from my lunch rock. Mostly it was lovely sitting in the sun, but a few times when the breeze got a bit stiffer, shorts and T-shirt were on the chilly side. I stayed well clear of the water, as that would have been a lot more than chilly...
A Canada jay by the lake shore. A few years ago, they were called gray jays, but a lot of birds are getting renamed lately.
Oregon grape flowering by the trail on the way back down. These grow at my house too.
Thimbleberry flowers back down near the car park.
My first real hike of the year (the weather has not been conducive, or it's chosen to be so when I've been at work). 3.5 miles each way, 2400 feet/740m uphill. A good start to nearly-summer!
no subject
Date: 2026-06-04 08:17 am (UTC)I'm glad to see you had a sunny day to hike to this spot. :)
no subject
Date: 2026-06-04 01:10 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2026-06-05 12:45 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2026-06-05 03:57 am (UTC)