August without any smoke in the sky is the time to go high in the Olympics. Snow is pretty much melted away, and the days are warm and the nights are just pleasant. I hiked to Silver Lake last year for a day hike (Fantastic Day Hike!), but wanted to stay the night and then explore the pass more. So this year, I hiked with friends up the Mount Townsend trail, starting at the upper trail head, which I tried earlier this summer (Mount Townsend), but the summit was covered in clouds. Not so this weekend, and the sun was out and glorious! We stored our backpacks off the trail and then day hiked to summit Mount Townsend which was just a perfect experience. The views on top were well worth it.

We then hiked down, back to the side trail leading to Silver Lake, grabbed our backpacks, and made our way up and down, through the woods and up the valley to the little lake nestled high up at the top of the valley.

There were plenty of wildflowers still out, poking out of the dirt on both sides of the trail. We finally arrived at the lake in the early afternoon, set up camp and watched the fish jump in the lake.

We had a great evening, then the next day hiked up to the pass which had one patch of snow still hanging on. We ventured left, which is south, and explored the two peaks that overlook the lake. the views from the top were spectacular, and looking south, the peaks beyond the next valley including Mount Constance rose demanding our attention.

We could look right down on our camp below at the far right side of the lake. In the distance you can see the waters of the Straight of Juan de Fuca.

The campsites filled up that evening on Saturday. Friday night, we were completely alone. Still, the heat of the day and hiking up the pass led me to jump in the lake, which was cold and so refreshing.

We hit the trail Sunday morning and on our way out saw a beautiful deer on the trail just hanging out until it noted us! Then it decided to head out into the woods.

This was really the perfect weekend trip, and it worked so well to take Friday off to start early. The hike overall was about 10.5 miles to Silver Lake with a exertional side trip of 2 miles to reach Mount Townsend. The additional pass hike was other 2-3 miles depending on the side trails you explore. The lake is in the Buckhorn Wilderness, so you can bring your dog. The trail is in great shape, and the Mount Townsend section is extremely popular so prepare to arrive early to secure a good parking spot, as the lot does fill up.

As a side note, other friends made the mistake of drinking some unfiltered water at this location a few weeks earlier… Don’t do this! Buy a highly reliable water filter and use it!  Giardia and Cryptosporidium are the two most common parasites that will mess you up.

I love Silver Lake, and plan to visit again. Next time, I think I will try throwing a line in and see if I can snag one of those mountain trout.