Lake Melakwa

 

I’m less than a month behind on my postings, so I have a chance to get caught up.  In the first part of September, I headed up to Lake Melakwa to stretch out my legs and have a pleasant day in the sun. Melakwa is one of my favorite hikes.  The lake fits its valley perfectly and Kaleetan Peak at the end looks like a smaller Matterhorn. It is also the backdoor route into Snow Lake. Just climb 800 feet over that pass (Melakwa Pass) at the end of the lake and in less than a mile of cross country, you are at Gem Lake.

Large parts of the trail are in the cool shade of the forest which makes for a very pleasant hike.  The trail is broken up into several  natural rest stops.

You head up from the Denny creek trail head and in less than thirty minutes, you reach the natural rock slides. There are generally young kids playing in the shallow pools of water or sliding down the polished rock channels.

In another thirty minutes you reach Keekwulee Falls, which in means nothing in the local Indian dialect since it is a word made up by the Mountaineers to sound like an Indian word. But it is the perfect spot to stop and have a cookie while looking at the falls.  This late in the season, there was very little water going over the falls.

The next hour and a half is the long hall.  Up over hemlock pass and then a mile to the Lake.  The lake is really two lakes separated by a twenty foot channel and a six inch waterfall.  In the middle of that channel is the perfect rock for lunch. It is in the sun, has a nice breeze to keep the bugs away, and is flat for sleeping on.

It also has great views in two directions.  Look north  to see the upper

and south to see the lower lake

I watched the birds catching insects on the surface of the lake

and then got up and headed back along the lake side trail. It does get a little narrow, but the worst that could happen is a five foot jump into the lake, which is not much of a threat on a warm sunny day.

I took one last look at the lake and then made the two and a half hour walk back to my car.  Two and a half hours may seem like a long was, but down hill is easy and in the warm sunshine it is really pleasant.