Surprise Lake, WA near Mt. Rainier

[H3slate]

On Thursday Scarsman and I met up to have some pre-NW event fun and scout a new trail. We had previously found the start of this trail, but didn't have enough time to run it. So before heading up to the Naches trail, we ran the Surprise Lake trail. The trail is located near Evans Creek on the north side of the Carbon Creek.

The trail is unmarked and looks like every other dead end trail off of a forest road. It is a narrow trail with lots of brush rake and pretty rocky.

We kept making progress on the trail until we came upon this,

Surprise!! It's not much of a lake. :whaa:

 

[H3slate]

Well, the trail didn't end, so we decided to keep going. We had some great views of Mt. Rainier and started climbing higher in the hills.

Scarsman's H2 getting swallowed by the trees.

Here is our first look at the real Surprise Lake!

Mt. Rainier in the background

 

[H3slate]

The lake was beautiful! It had a sandy beach with waterfront parking.

Can you find the Hummers?

We had a lot of fun on this trail and plan to go back and camp at the lake.

 

[jakesz28]

I wish there was more then corn fields and cities around here. Not many if any trails like that around Iowa.
The scenery is nice. That would be a nice place to camp and don't forget to take a kayak or canoe with.

 

[H3slate]

I wish there was more then corn fields and cities around here. Not many if any trails like that around Iowa.
The scenery is nice. That would be a nice place to camp and don't forget to take a kayak or canoe with.

You bet, there is a little island to paddle out to, and some fish to catch too.

 

[Scarsman]

It was awesome! I'll try and get some pics up tonight. I'm mounting a roof rack and wiring lights up today. Do there will be pics of that, too!

Sent from my C771 using Tapatalk

 

[Zach]

Beautiful scenery. Looks like you had a great time :thumbs:

 

[06 H3]

damn the scenary is outstanding!

 

[Hummjay]

Ahhh yes, that scenery is absolutely stunning! Nice pristine lake. Looks like a fantastic place to camp. Erik, how long did it take to run this trail? Could we possibly make this an H4O run/day trip? Hint-hint.... :shifty:

 

[alrock]

Beautiful! Great side trip for you guys. Thanks for the pics.

 

[Nacho]

Awesome pics, makes me want to take a trip up there someday.

 

[H2Jungle]

Looks like great fun. Awesome photos.

 

[Scarsman]

Here are a few videos the boys took.

[video=youtube;-Hc3XEU7uYg]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Hc3XEU7uYg&list=UU7JRV4Q_dz39E1c69EQSMRg&index=1&f eature=plcp[/video]


Here H3slate is testing out his new COG with the loaded roof rack. It passed!


[video=youtube;lUHeaypqkU4]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lUHeaypqkU4&list=UU7JRV4Q_dz39E1c69EQSMRg& index=2&feature=plcp[/video]


And in the process he managed to roll a boulder right into my way! How rude!


[video=youtube;wEPgF0DPDhE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wEPgF0DPDhE&list=UU7JRV4Q_dz39E1c69EQSMRg& index=3&feature=plcp[/video]


[video=youtube;JBWuWJ7YOn4]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JBWuWJ7YOn4&list=UU7JRV4Q_dz39E1c69EQSMRg& index=5&feature=plcp[/video]


[video=youtube;AVLGywqvFBs]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AVLGywqvFBs&list=UU7JRV4Q_dz39E1c69EQSMRg& index=6&feature=plcp[/video]

 

[Pappibri]

Nice pics and videos.. Looks like a nice run.. Beautiful scenery is always a major plus... Love the dog too...

 

[alrock]

Nice videos!

 

[Neo]

great pix , i was stationed in Neah Bay for a few years and loved wheelin in your forests , beautiful .