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Hope & Mig Lakes Summary
To Hope Lake: 1.6 miles, 1300 ft elevation gain
-To Mig Lake: 0.5 miles past Hope Lake, additional 260 ft gain
Round trip to both: 4 miles, 1560 ft gain
Directions: From Seattle, take Hwy 2 past Skykomish for 12 miles to a major bend in the road. This is just before the highway makes its main push to the top of Steven's Pass and splits into 4 lanes. Take forest service rd #6095 on the right for 0.6 mi. At a fork in the road, take a right onto road #(6095)110, passing over a cement bridge. At another fork 0.2 miles further, go straight. Go another 0.4 miles to a third split, and take the steep left. The trailhead, labeled Tunnel Creek Trailhead is no more than 0.1 mile further.
If coming from the East, there is a median on the left which prevents you from turning onto the forest service road. You will have to go past it and turn around.
Trail #1061: This route is sometimes used as a shortcut to the Pacific Crest Trail. The official PCT route goes south through Stevens Pass, and then southwest in to the Alpine Lakes Wilderness, meeting up with Hope Lake, Mig Lake, and a few others before turning due south again. Some through hikers, but mostly sectional hikers and day hikers choose to take this trail due south, cutting 6.5 miles off the PCT route to Hope Lake.
The trail itself is steep, narrower and rockier than more populated trails, and climbs from 3100 ft to 4400 ft in 1.6 miles. Although it parallels Tunnel Creek, the trail does not offer views of this creek until near the end. Hope Lake is beautifully situated among trees, surrounded by a few other small ponds. When Alicia went she saw frogs, camp robbers, fish, a heron, and lots of mosquitoes - even in August.
A short jaunt northeast on the PCT, up 260 additional feet, takes you to Mig Lake and many surrounding ponds, some with lily pads. A maze of skinny trails lead around Mig Lake and the ponds. The landscape is open, with a few trees around the lake and short shrubs and bushes elsewhere.
A 2 mile walk further east meets up with Swimming Deer Lake. Another mile takes you near Lake Josephine before taking the last 4.5 miles to Stevens Pass. Neither of us has ever been to these last two lakes.
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