Despite the early meeting time and strange meeting place we had a good turn-out for the Lake Serene hike last night. This hike is distinguished in that it was the very first "TNAB Hike" long before the idea of TNAB really existed. It's a very nice hike, although shorter and less elevation than most of the ones we hit in a summer, and is usually more towards the beginning of the season as a warm up. This year it was more of a cool-down. The main problem with Serene is getting there. As we sat on rte 202 trying to get to Woodinville, and then on 140th trying to get out of Woodinville, and then spent the better part of a month sitting on 522, still trying to get out of Woodinville, I remembered why we don't do this one more often. Many thanks to Larry for driving through this mess. Eventually the metal waters parted and we reached the trailhead in time for the usual 6:00 departure. Serene is only a little over 2000' of gain, and 3.6 miles in, although the first 1-1.5 miles are pretty flat, so most of the elevation is on the 23 switch-backs in the middle (No, I didn't count them, the trailhead sign says there's 23). It was a trifle odd seeing the last part of the trail before the lake - that part has always been under snow before. The lake still had small patches of snow on the far side, but was otherwise clear and not even very cold. Larry, Jason and I all stripped down and went for a very refreshing swim, and then we all wandered around to the big, glacier polished rock which overlooks the lake from the west end. We contemplated the possibilities of skate-boards and bathing suits for a bit before heading down. Sunset is before 8pm, and it was quite dark despite being out at the rather early hour of 9pm summer is fading fast.....only a couple more hikes left!
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