Surprise Lake Hike/Campout, April 16-17, 2010

We camped on the edge of the Carbon River, just outside Mount Rainier National Park. We drove through serious rain 5 minutes before arriving at camp, but just had a couple of light sprinkles that caused no problems. Saturday morning we drove up Cayada Creek Road and hiked to Surprise Lake. The last part of the trail had 3 feet of fresh snow, which was challenging. The lake was still frozen. We burned some marshmallows, warmed up, and headed back down the hill. Stopped at a bridge over Cayada Creek to toss in some rocks, etc. We met a nice lizard, but for some reason, it wasn't interested in our offering of a fresh mosquito. After we piled into the megavan for the last time, it wouldn't start. That gave some of us the opportunity to explore Wilkeson Town Hall, while the working minivan returned to rescue the guys left behind, and while another minivan from Kent came to our rescue. The megavan made it home a couple of days later.