hiking into lake Isabel from reiter trails?

[dove'd85]

i wheel the trails up there all the time and i am not sure how to get into lake isabel on foot?

were i think it is... once you cross May creek at the end of puddle road, we crossed at the how crossing and started the trail, we went pass the first hard right switch back, were the small rock face is. kept going and crossed two small creek crossing up the road, we passed trail of doum the entrance and exit, then you come to a sweeping left hand turn, and there is a trail that goes straight at the sweeping left, we went staight and shortly after ended at the log bridge with the chainlink over the logs, and proceeded up the mountain fallowing the river/creek up, we hiked and hiked some more for four hours:eeek: and we still couldn't find it... so we pitched tent and came out this morning.

were is it at? i know it's a big lake so im not sure how we missed it?:wtf: :booo:

 

[boxboy]

after you get to the log bridge you turn left and start climbing through a minnie rock garden, that comes to a "Y", take the left trail... about a 1/4 mile or so you come to a tight corner to the right, at this corner there is a trail that kinda follows the creek just stay on the trail until you get to the lake. i think it is a mile or so not really sure.

 

[dove'd85]

im not sure were that at? as soon as we crossed the bridge, we walked east or straight and ended up back at a logging road above the powerlines, then we walked back to the bridge and found what seamed like a good trail for a while and followed it up the river for a good few hours, we passed some old mining tools, a huge tank of some sort and a huge water wheel? and some coils of cable? we followed the trail past that and came to what looked like a creek that was mostly tried up.. we walked up that and came to a Y we we left and found a rode and some BFG Krawler tracks.. so after we went left at the Y we came to a sharp right hand turn and a trail in the apex of the turn... we walked that trail for a good 30 minutes and it became dark so we hiked back down a ways to were the tried up creek met the trail and camped there?...

 

[blackcj71]

If your following the road/trail once you cross the log bridge kkeep goin up the wash out and the trail will hook to your left follow it into the woods for awhile it'll start getting rocky again where the trail does the final right hand turn (alittle before the remnants of the old cabin) Theres markers that show the trailhead. If you can find that its pretty easy trail to follow. Its a pretty quick walk to the falls and after that its straight up to the lake.

 

[dove'd85]

If your following the road/trail once you cross the log bridge kkeep goin up the wash out and the trail will hook to your left follow it into the woods for awhile it'll start getting rocky again where the trail does the final right hand turn (alittle before the remnants of the old cabin) Theres markers that show the trailhead. If you can find that its pretty easy trail to follow. Its a pretty quick walk to the falls and after that its straight up to the lake.

so you drive the logging road to the top? the wood bridge i am ruffering to the logs laid across the creek and they are covered with chainlink fence?

 

[blackcj71]

then you come to a sweeping left hand turn, and there is a trail that goes straight at the sweeping left, we went staight and shortly after ended at the log bridge with the chainlink over the logs
it?:wtf: :booo:

Stay left and follow the road and refer to my other post. Lakes quit a ways from that bridge your refering too...

 

[dove'd85]

Stay left and follow the road and refer to my other post. Lakes quit a ways from that bridge your refering too...

thanks man i got it now.. were heading back out next weekend to try again:beer:

 

[Boonie Buster]

it's a short and steep hike, but well worth it:awesomework: rumor has it there is a boat up there:; , and if i remember correctly you can see the plane It's been so long since I hiked up there, I wanna go back...

 

[Hip]

james sounds like you are in the wrong area.

the sweeping turn to the left and you went straight. used to be a big log across that trail about 6 feet off the ground.. thats not the right area.

go left there to the end. it will start the rocky section get a little easier then you will cross a log bridge that ya drive across. then the trail gets good. it goes up the east side of the river (large rocks) abouut 1/4 mi then crosses back over to the west side and goes another 1/2 or so mile. when it ends there is some old shack remnants. go back the way ya came and look to your right. there will be a small foot trail and it goes up. at times it will be so steep you will need assistance to get up it. thats the trailhead. good luck from there.

 

[Boonie Buster]

ya, basically if you can make your way back to the creek after crossing the log bridge and heading up the upper rocky area, where they're talking about, you can follow the creek up to a huge waterfall, you'll wanna be on the right side of the waterfall(looking at the waterfall), so if the waterfall is to your left as you climb you're in good shape:redneck: (awesome photo opp. at the waterafll btw):awesomework: then you basically scarmble through the brambles up the hill:haha: (there are sort of mini switch-backs you can take up)

 

[dove'd85]

thanks guys were goin out saturday to hike to the lake

 

[dove'd85]

it's a short and steep hike, but well worth it:awesomework: rumor has it there is a boat up there:; , and if i remember correctly you can see the plane It's been so long since I hiked up there, I wanna go back...

any rumors as to were the boats at?:;

 

[Boonie Buster]

any rumors as to were the boats at?:;

I heard it was along the lake edge close to where you crest the hill, but I never actually used the boat or found it (we didn't really venture too far around the lake) I'm not sure i'd use the boat though to be quite honest... might end up residing next to the plane:hi:

 

[notstock]

There is a couple old mines up there also.

 

[mikeymoto]

At the very end of the dirt road that goes up to Lake Isabel, on the left (up hill) side you'll see a garden hose hanging down. Pull yourself up there and you can find what's left of the Red Cross Mine. I have no idea how deep it is, and it's full of water so be careful! The opening does not go far back but it's still fun, and very creepy (to me):



The better Reiter mine exploring is the remnants of the much more successful (by comparison to Red Cross) Copper Bell mine. There are 3 openings in the clear-cut area at what I call "lower Reiter", one of which is right at the side of the dirt road. The other two take some exploring to find, but they're there! Those ones go waayyy back, so be careful! Here are views into some of those adits (horizontal openings that go into the hill, used for worker access and removal of ore):




I'm interested in Skykomish Valley mines, and Copper Bell is very interesting to me for various reasons. Also, there are remnants of an old power generating station along May Creek. That's a fun one to come across too! (and I've hid a geocache there)



Back to Lake Isabel, though... if you're getting lost as low as Oiler's Bridge (the bridge with the memorial for some quad rider, and chain link across it) you're wayyy far off. Best bet the first time up is to follow the 4x4 road all the way up, crossing the creek on the upper bridge, then when you come to the place with the green outhouse:



you've gone too far. Go back down the road just a bit and you should see some ribbon on the north side of the dirt road. There is a trail marked with ribbon, which you can follow up to the falls. Once you find the falls, there's a TOUGH hike to get to the lake at the top. It's fun, and worth it, so give it a shot! Good luck! (and there's a geocache up at Lake Isabel too)





Go on a warm day so you can enjoy the cool water when you get up there!

There are other ways to get there that are shorter. For example you could park at the second switchback on the dirt road in the clearcut, then follow the dirtbike trail to Oiler's Bridge, then either go up as has been described, or cut over and follow the dirt road.

Or, there's a trail (a little hard to find at first, but there nonetheless) you can find if you park in the same spot mentioned above, then go uphill a ways on the western edge of the clearcut, then follow it past the old Copper Bell power house...keep following the trail along May Creek and it will dump you out by the upper bridge. I think this is a very nice way to go.

Man, I really love the Reiter area. I hope it's open to the public for a long time. Enjoy!

P.S.: I still have not found the upper-most opening from the Copper Bell mine. It is supposedly way uphill of the clearcut area along the base of the cliff. I have followed a trail up to where people climb the cliff face, but have yet to find that mine opening. If anyone knows where that is, I'd love to hear from you!!!

 

[Boonie Buster]

the 3rd from last picture is where a friend and i stopped and took some photos, that waterfall is AWESOME!!! it was raging when we went!!! so much spray the photos were kinda blurry.:awesomework:

 

[Cascade_Crawler]

Mikey youve got some interesting insights. Where does the dirtbike trail that goes over oilers bridge leave the lake Isabelle trail at? It would be cool to read a full write up of one of your hikes. Im gonna have to go exploring

 

[mikeymoto]

Cascade_Crawler: I'm not sure I understand your question exactly. See if the image below helps. The black lines are 4x4 roads/trails (what I called dirt roads in my previous post). The green lines are bike/hiking trails. I drew the lines by hand, so these are not exact tracks off my GPS, but they should be close.