Oregon Hikers

A few of us decided to celebrate the openings by hiking up to Soda Peaks Lake from the bottom. I'm sure the upper route over the ridge is still snowed in, presumably including the road to the trailhead. I learned two things: I'm terribly out of shape, and there are lots of logs down across the trail, especially up high. The lake is probably 80% frozen over, but the large campsite on the knoll is mostly melted out.

No huckleberries yet.

I did that exact hike in 2017; my return to backpacking after 22 years. I too quickly learned I was not in shape, and my thought process of gear was severely outdated!

Looks like a very calm and serene lake. Did you have to cross much snow on the trail up? I remember when I did it, it was in mid june and the trail was still a bit snow covered near the lake.

We didn't hit snow till the last few hundred yards before the lake, and patchy around the outlet side of the lake. The rest was pretty solidly snowed in. I think the short trail over the ridge will need a couple weeks.