Derek’s family has a long tradition of spending time every summer at Lincoln Rock State Park, in eastern Washington, not far from Wenatchee. The past few years we have joined them and the past two years we have hiked and we did another one this year.
We had planned to go to Lake Caroline, which is a pretty hefty hike, but the temperature was getting into the triple digits so we scaled back our goal. Lake Caroline is a side trail from the trail we were on.
In the moment, I kept looking for the Lake Caroline trail but I missed it. However, on the way back we briefly took a wrong turn, the trail labeled ‘Eightmile Trout Creek’. Looking at the track I see that this is the trail that leads to Lake Caroline. Note this closeup:
You can see a little fishhook-like piece of our track, out of which appears another trail (the switchbackish dotted line). That is the way to Lake Caroline. Good to know.
Eightmile Lake itself is, on a non-fiery day, a fairly mild hike. The first .75 mile section is fairly steep, but after that it is pretty moderate.
Eightmile Lake is the site of an infamous forest fire. Back in 1997 multiple firefighters lost their lives fighting the fire. Evidence of the fire is all around:
Eightmile Lake itself is a beautiful alpine lake – much of the hike is in the Alpine Lakes Wilderness. The lake and the mountains around it are genuinely awe-inspiring.
The hike was about 6.7 miles round trip. We saw a mother deer with her three does just off the Eightmile shore. They were curious and did not bolt right away. It was fun hanging out to see them in their own environment, just living their life.
Great hike, fun time at Lincoln Rock.