Trail: Noble Knob and George Lake

This last Monday I had the chance of hiking the Noble Knob trail, which was quite a noteworthy hike for a number of reasons. First, some details: this trail is just outside the Mount Rainier National Park boundaries, in the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest, and it's one of the highest trails outside of the National Park (which gives you amazing views of Mount Rainier). I was lucky that it was a wonderful day, sunny and cool, and I had amazing views throughout the trail. Another interesting detail about this hike is that, unfortunately, this part of the National Forest had a forest fire recently: you could clearly see where the forest burned and where the fire stopped. This made for a hike like no other I made before, mixing stretches of burned forest with still intact forest.

Getting to the trailhead was already part of the adventure. You have to take a forest road that under normal circumstances is already pretty challenging: unpaved, narrow, and with no guard rails next to steep cliffs. But, because of the fire, parts of the road were somewhat washed off and some other parts were covered in rolling rocks: some stretches very much made my knuckles go white (I do not recommend taking this road without an all wheel drive car). On the other hand, most of the ascent is done on the road, so you don't have to face steep stretches on the trail itself.

Once in the trailhead, you're rewarded with amazing views right there. Even though the trail wasn't steep, once again because of the forest fires there were some small stretches where the trail had washed off. When you walk on a trail that's not exactly "there", on an exposed slope of the mountain, it makes for a very exciting experience! Once you reach the summit of the Noble Knob, though, the views are breathtaking: you can see all these hills and mountains around (and they are lower than you!) and it's an excellent place for sitting down and just enjoy. The interesting thing is that, as I sat down for lunch, my head was the highest point on the mountain.

After the Noble Knob, I took another trail to reach the nearby George Lake, a small alpine lake with incredibly transparent and peaceful waters. This was like a dessert after a long hike. All in all, it was a challenging, intense and exhilarating hike, but I would love to do it again, specially in the flower season.