Annette Lake Trail

Matt and I had an unexpected long weekend together, and of course, that means hiking! I had already told my friend Melissa I was up for a hike, so it ended up being the three of us. I had run long the day before and my legs were toast, so I wanted something not-too-challenging but that would still be entertaining for Matt, who seems to want to tackle harder hikes each time.

Last time we hiked, we planned to do Annette Lake but were late getting out the door, and opted for the shorter Heather Lake Trail instead. That made Annette Lake an easy choice this time. At 6.9 miles and 2000 feet of elevation gain, it checked all the boxes. (We ended up clocking closer to 7.3 miles.)

We got started right around noon. The weather had been cool and cloudy on the drive, but turned sunny pretty much as soon as we reached the trailhead. That was okay; the hike is mostly through shady forest and there was even a slight breeze at times.

This trail is one of those that frontloads the elevation gain in the first half; for about three miles, we hiked up switchbacks and climbed increasingly steep stairs. It was rough. The three of us were all of the same mindset that we didn't want to rest too much; it's nicer to push through the tough spots and then rest at the destination. Still, my legs were struggling for a lot of this!

Around mile three, the climb levelled off and we had a fairly flat trek the rest of the way to the lake.

The lake was gorgeous. Some of the alpine lakes are starting to blur together for me, but that doesn't make them any less majestic. While Melissa and I ate our lunch, Matt went for a swim and Zoe played in the shallows.

After a fairly long rest, we began the steep hike back down. We'd brought poles, because I've finally learned my lesson about descents, but ended up not needing them. My knees weren't thrilled, but I didn't eat it at any point in this hike.

I'm glad we got a chance to get to this trail this summer. It's a highly-rated one, and I can see why!

Ali