Lake Serene & Bridal Veil Falls Hike

Today the Sunday hiking crew chose to take our hiking on the road. We decided to drive about an hour and forty minutes from Seattle to check out the Lake Serene & Bridal Viel Falls Hike. After reading some reviews of this hike we decided that we wanted to get a workout in and see some areas of Washington that we would normally not make it too.
The stats on the hike are as follows:

Location - Central Cascades - Stevens Pass - West
Distance - 7.2 miles roundtrip
Elevation Gain - 2000 feet
The first 1.7 miles of the hike is mostly a glorified walk through some beautiful mossy woods. At the 1.7 point the hike splits and you can decide to continue .5 miles to Bridal Veil Falls or continue to Lake Serene. We decided to check out the falls and this is where the hike actually became a hike. It was nice to get the heart rate up. I had fairly low expectations of the falls but to my surprise the falls were beautiful. Be prepared to get wet and see a beautiful site!

Side view from the trail

Near the bottom of the falls

Tim being a crazy photographer... and a beautiful view.

Posing as normal by the falls!

As you can see we were all camera happy! The falls were pretty cool but hikers along the way said that Lake Serene is even better. So we decided to continue on another 2 miles up to find Lake Serene. We counted that along these 2 miles there are 27 switchbacks and within 1.5 miles you climb 1300 ft. This is a great hike and very challenging. As you are climbing this mountain you are wondering why a lake would be hidden in this tight basin. Once you reach 2700 feet you finally descend and see Lake Serene. It is beautiful... there was even a bit of snow left. This area is so peaceful and beautiful... tip bring bug spray... the bugs try and eat you alive. I suggest packing a lunch and enjoying the peaceful surrounding unfortunately we didn't pack lunches so we took some pics and turned around. :)

Breathtaking!

This hike is definitely challenging if you make the trek to Lake Serene... which I highly recommend. The trail does get busy so head out early and enjoy the peace and quiet of this beautiful trail. Again don't forget snacks, water and bug spray. I even suggest hiking boots because all the steps and rocks can be very slippery. I had some trouble on the descent because I kept slipping and sliding in my running shoes. I recommend this hike to anyone who is looking for a great day hike.